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SHE COULD LOOK DOWN AT THE TABLE 



THE LITTLE RUNAWAYS 
AT ORCHARD HOUSE 


ALICE TURNER CURTIS 


Author of 


"The Little Runaways" 

"The Little Runaways at Home" 
"The Little Runaways and Mother" 


Illustrated by WUANITA SMITH 


THE PENN PUBLISHING 
COMPANY PHILADELPHIA 
MCMXIV 





COPYRIGHr 
1914 BY 
THE PENN 
PUBLISHING 
COMPANY 



JUL 

©C1,A376731 


'PU)/ 


Introduction 


Phineas Trot Burton, “whose mother was a 
Higgins,” and little Cathie, who could not remember 
her own mother, have grown up in Mrs. Burton’s 
pleasant home in a Maine village. They were little 
runaways from an orphan asylum, and found a real 
mother and a “ truly home.” 

In “ The Little Eunaways at Home,” and “ The Lit- 
tle Kunaways and Mother,” is told the story of their 
adventures, how Phineas kills a bear, makes a friend 
of the village clergyman, and Cathie tries housekeep- 
ing and meets “ Miss Patricia ” from London. 

In “ The Little Eunaways at Orchard House ” 
Phineas begins to help other asylum boys, and gives 
them some of the good times he has enjoyed on a farm. 
Cathie’s adventure in the apple tree, and the adventures 
and escapes of the six boys who spend a summer vaca- 
tion at Orchard House will be sure to interest boys and 
girls who have made the acquaintance of the “ Little 
Eunaways ” in the earlier volumes of this series. 


3 



Contents 


I 


I. 

The Guests Arrive 




9 

11. 

Troubles Begin 




i8 

III. 

Getting Acquainted 




28 

IV. 

Matt’s Choice 




37 

V. 

Miss Mabel Gates 




46 

VI. 

Margaret and Harry 




58 

VII. 

Matt and Fred . 




67 

VIII. 

In the Orchard . 




76 

IX. 

Matt Owns Up 




85 

X. 

Miss Pitts Surprises Matt 




94 

XI. 

At the Harpers’ . 




104 

XII. 

Bows and Arrows 




116 

XIII. 

A Chapter of Disappointments 



127 

XIV. 

A Wonderland Party 




137 

XV. 

About Andrew 




148 

XVI. 

Mrs. Jones Decides 




159 

XVII. 

Orchard House Flier . 




171 

XVIII. 

Unexpected Happenings 




181 


5 


s 


Illustrations 


PAGE 

She Could Look Down at the Table . Frontispiece 
“ I Always Sleep in This Room ” . . . 54 


‘‘ What’s the Book About ? ” 


79^ 


The Little Boy Looked at Her Eagerly . 129 

“You Said You Liked Noisy Boys” . . . 153 


The Little Runaways at Orchard House, 





The Little Runaways at 
Orchard House 


CHAPTEE I 

THE GUESTS AERIVE 

“ The hay-rack will be the very thing for the boys 
to ride from the station in,” declared Phineas. “ I’ll put 
a good lot of hay in it, and I’ll bet those boys will like 
it better than any automobile that was ever made.” 

“ Of course they will,” agreed Cathie admmngly. 

Phineas Trot Burton and Catherine Burton stood 
under the big elm tree in front of “ Orchard House,” as 
they now called the old Eastman farm, which Phineas 
had hired, and with the help of his schoolmates and 
neighbors had made into a comfortable summer home 
for six boys from a Boston Orphan Asylum. The 
boys were to arrive' on the train that was due at Cum- 
berland Junction, five miles distant, at noon. It was 
now early in the morning, and Phineas and Cathie had 
run across the field from their own home to look at 


9 


lo The Little Runaways 

the house and be sure that everything was in readi- 
ness. 

“ It’s shining clean, anyway,” declared the little girl, 
looking toward the gray shingled farmhouse, whose 
front door and windows were wide open. 

“And Miss Pitts has made six blueberry pies,” 
added Phineas. 

“ And they are to have roast chicken and green peas, 
and plenty of milk for dinner, and eat out-of-doors,” 
said Cathie. 

“ I guess Mother Burton didn’t realize that she was 
adopting a whole orphan asylum when you walked up 
to her kitchen door four years ago,” Phineas said 
laughingly. 

Four years ago Mrs. Burton had adopted Cathie and 
Phineas, whose only home had been the orphan asylum 
from which they were now expecting the six boys to 
stay for the month of August. Phineas had hired the 
Eastman place, a deserted old farm, intending to use 
part of it for pasturage, to raise chickens, improve the 
orchard, and sell hay, and so make it profitable. This 
first year he wanted to give other boys a taste of what 
a real vacation could be. Phinny was now sixteen 
years old ; he meant to go to college, and after that to 
earn his living on the Eastman farm and help other 


At Orchard House 


11 


boys. Cathie was nearly thirteen, and she, too, was 
planning for college. 

“ It’s fine in Miss Pitts to keep house for the boys,” 
continued Phineas. “ What do you suppose they’ll be 
like, Cathie ? ” 

“Well, as you told the superintendent to pick out 
the six homeliest boys, and boys that nobody wanted 
to adopt, I guess they won’t be either handsome or 
good-natured,” answered Cathie laughingly. 

“Well, I shall know just how they feel then,” 
answered the boy. 

“ Why, Phinny Trot, you were always good-natured,” 
declared Cathie. “ There comes Miss Pitts now,” and 
Cathie ran down the road to meet a tall, thin woman 
who, carrying a sunshade in one hand and a basket in 
the other, was coming briskly along toward the farm- 
house. 

Miss Pitts waved her sunshade toward the little 
girl. 

“ Cookies ! ” she exclaimed holding out the basket 
toward Cathie. “ Sugar cookies ! Thought maybe 
they’d like ’em.” 

“ You always think of such lovely things,” declared 
Cathie. 

“ Have one ? ” she suggested, holding out the basket. 


12 The L.ittle Runaways 

Cathie took the basket, but declared that she did not 
want a cooky. 

“Phinny’s going to hitch Splendid into the hay- 
rack, and bring the boys home in that,” she said. 

“ That’s a good idea. Did you know that one of the 
boys is Nonny Sykes, who was in the asylum when 
you were there ? ” responded Miss Pitts. 

“ I don’t remember him,” said Cathie. 

“ Well, Phinny does. This Nonny Sykes was a lit- 
tle fellow, only four or five ; and lame, Phinny says : 
one leg shorter than the other.” 

“ Oh, that was Algernon ! He was little, and he 
walked nearly sideways,” said Cathie. 

“ A poor sort of a name, as I view it,” said Miss 
Pitts, “ but Nonny sounds full as well as Algernon.” 

Phineas held open the gate for Miss Pitts and Cathie, 
and just then a tall boy came round the corner of the 
house. 

“ Please, sir, may I speak to Miss Pitts ? ” he asked 
turning to Phineas, and then, without waiting for a re- 
sponse, he sniffed appreciatively. “ Cookies ! And 
sugar cookies ! With carraway seeds ! ” he declared. 
‘‘ Oh, why did I not run away in my infancy to an 
asylum ? Then I, too, might have vacations, and sugar 
cookies.” 


At Orchard House 


13 

“ Well, Leander, you may have one sugar cooky,” said 
Miss Pitts. “You don’t appear to be very busy for a 
hired man,” she continued, as Len helped himself to a 
cooky, and sat down on the front door-step. 

Phinny had hired the older boy to help him with the 
farm work. They were great cronies, and Len had 
been a good friend to Phinny ever since the boy came 
to live at Mrs. Burton’s. 

“ I must go and harness Splendid,” said Phineas. 
“ Come on and help me put in the hay, Len.” 

“ Yes, sir,” responded Len, with mock humility ; “ be 
sure and keep me busy ; don’t let a poor, tired man have 
a moment’s rest.” 

“ Mother Burton is coming over just as soon as she 
takes her bread out of the oven,” said Cathie, as the 
boys disappeared round the corner of the house. 

“ We’ll have Leander put the table right under the 
big Baldwin tree,” said Miss Pitts, “ and you just step 
over to Mrs. Jones’s and ask her to let you pick all the 
sweet-williams she can spare, and we’ll trim the table.” 

“ I do wish I could see the boys when they get their 
first look at this place,” said Cathie, with a little plead- 
ing note in her voice. 

Miss Pitts shook her head. “ I guess ’twill be better 
if they don’t see too many new faces,” she replied. 


14 T'he Little Runaways 

‘‘ Phinny and Leander and I can get along real well, 
and those boys will enjoy their dinner better not to see 
anybody but just the family.” 

Cathie started off on her errand, promising to be back 
in good season ; and Miss Pitts went into “ Orchard 
House,” put away her pretty straw hat and gray cot- 
ton gloves and green sunshade, and carried the basket 
of cookies to the pantry, where the chickens were all 
ready for the oven. 

“ I’ll put my apron right on, and start up the fire,” 
she said aloud, and nodded approvingly when she 
found that Phineas had laid the fire all ready to light, 
and that the wood-box was filled with dry wood. 

“ He’s a thoughtful boy if ever there was one,” she 
declared. 

As Phinny drove out of the yard on his way to the 
J unction, Len appeared at the kitchen door with a big 
basket of freshly gathered peas. 

“ I’ll shell these,” he said, sitting down in the door- 
way. ‘‘ I’d just as soon sit here and shell peas as to 
hoe potatoes in the hot sun ; and it’s some comfort to 
smell a good dinner even if I can’t taste it.” 

‘‘ I don’t worry about you, Leander, not a mite,” re- 
sponded Miss Pitts cheerfully. But Leander shook his 
head dolefully. 


At Orchard House 


•5 

Before the peas were shelled Cathie returned with a 
quantity of sweet-williams. 

“ Your mother’s sweet-william bed looks just like a 
lovely carpet, Len,” she declared. 

“Ought to. I work pretty near all night every 
other day weeding it,” Len responded. 

“ You fix the flowers just the way you think they’ll 
be prettiest, Cathie,” said Miss Pitts, “ and then you 
can run right home. I’ll come over this afternoon and 
tell you all about it.” 

“ May I use one of those shallow tin pans ? ” asked 
Cathie. 

“ Use anything you want to,” responded Miss Pitts ; 
and Cathie, with the shining new tin and the basket of 
flowers went down the little slope toward the orchard. 
The table stood under the big Baldwin apple tree, 
whose huge branches made a pleasant circle of 
shade. It was covered with a white cloth. Cathie 
put the tin in the center of the table and filled 
it with the blossoms. Then she ran down to the 
brook and brought back some of the tall rush-like 
grasses that grew beside it, and made a border all 
around the table of the delicate green stems and 
sweet-williams. 

“ They’ll think it’s pretty ; I know they will. I wish 


i6 T^he L.ittle Runaways 

I could see them when they sit down,” she thought, as 
she walked slowly around the table. 

Cathie looked up into the thickly-leaved interwoven 
branches of the big tree, and made a sudden resolve. 
“I’ll do it,” she declared aloud. “Nobody will see 
me, and I can see them all. And after dinner is over 
I’ll get down and run home, as soon as the boys leave 
the table.” 

It seemed a delightful plan to the little girl. She 
gave a swift look toward the house, but there was no one 
to be seen. Then she went close to the big tree. “ It’s 
just right to climb,” she thought, for one stout limb 
branched out very near the ground, and it was very 
easy for Cathie to pull herself up, and then scramble 
carefully to a place where, well hidden by the green 
leaves, she could peer down at the table below. “ This 
is splendid,” she thought happily, perching on one stout 
bough and clasping one above to steady herself. “ But 
I hope they won’t be long, for it isn’t very comfortable.” 

But it was a good half-hour before Cathie heard the 
rattle of the hay-rack, and saw Phinny with his load 
of boys come driving into the yard. She had already 
changed her position several times, and now was di- 
rectly over the table. 

Leander and Miss Pitts came hurrying down with 


At Orchard House 


‘7 


plates of bread and butter, plates of cookies, and dishes 
of blueberries. Then came Mother Burton with a big 
pitcher of milk. Then back they all went to return with 
the steaming chickens, the potatoes and peas. “ And 
there are blueberry pies, besides all this,” Cathie whis- 
pered to herself a little wonderingly, as she leaned 
down to get a better look at the asylum boys, who had 
followed Phineas to the shade of the tree, and were 
now taking their seats at the table. 


CHAPTEK II 


TEOUBLES BEGIN 

Nonny Sykes sat next to Phinny. He was the 
youngest of the six boys who were to spend the month 
of August at Orchard House, and the only one of 
the group who had been at the asylum when Phinny 
started out to find a home for himself. [N’onny was 
now nine years old. His left leg was shorter than the 
other, and, as Cathie said, Nonny walked in a ‘‘ sideways 
fashion.” He was a very thin little boy, but he had 
pleasant brown eyes and was always ready to smile. 

As he took his seat at the table and looked around 
Nonny was almost sure that he was dreaming. “ Only 
I wouldn’t dream about Matt Warren in a place like 
this,” Nonny thought, with a quick glance toward a 
good-looking boy at the further end of the table, who 
had already secured a half of the chicken nearest him, 
and was heaping his plate with peas and mashed 
potatoes. 

“ Goody ! ” Nonny whispered under his breath, for, 
as he looked toward Matt, Miss Pitts had reached over 
Matt’s shoulder and taken the plate, saying pleasantly : 

i8 


At Orchard House 


19 


“ Thank you, Matthew ; I’ll pass this plate to Nonny 
Sykes; but you mustn’t help your friends so gener- 
ously, or they won’t have any appetite for blueberry pie.” 

A little titter ran round the table, and Matt’s dark 
face flushed angrily. He had now to serve the chicken 
and vegetables for all the boys before helping himself, 
with the result that he was the last one at the table 
to begin his dinner. As Miss Fitts had stood beside 
him and suggested that Fhinny be given a liberal 
supply of white meat, that the Watson twins should be 
helped to the legs and a second joint, and advised as to 
extra spoonfuls of peas, Matthew found, when his own 
turn came, that the necks of the chickens and bits of 
skin were about all that remained. 

“ I guess you started in most too liberally, Matthew,” 
said Miss Pitts. “It was my intention to help the 
boys myself, but I^m real glad you did it. Though 
maybe you’d have fared better if I had served you 
than you did helping yourself,” and Miss Pitts patted 
Matthew’s shoulder as if she realized that his share ol 
the dinner was too small. 

Matt wriggled uneasily under her hand. He knew 
that every boy at the table was grinning with delight, 
and Matt was quite sure that he hated Miss Pitts, who 
had so cleverly outwitted him. 


20 ’The Tittle Runaways 

From her perch among the branches Cathie looked 
down and understood all that was happening. “ That’s 
a horrid boy,” she said to herself. The Watson twins, 
Charles and Chester, sat next to Matthew, then came 
Phineas and Nonny, and next to Nonny sat Arthur 
Joyce and Andrew Hill. 

“ How homely they are,” Cathie thought, as she 
looked down on Phinny’s guests ; “ all except that 
hateful boy who served the chicken.” Cathie moved 
a little, and the branch swayed and the leaves rustled. 
A hard green apple fell and hit Matt on the top of his 
head. 

He jumped up angrily. 

“ Who threw that ? ” he demanded, and Phinny was 
quick to notice that the other boys looked as if they 
were frightened at the big boy’s voice. 

‘‘ It fell from the tree. Matt. Don’t be afraid ; no- 
body’ll hurt you,” Phinny said quietly. 

The other boys exchanged smiles of satisfaction. It 
was evident that Phinny thought Matt a coward. 

“ I ain’t afraid,” grumbled Matt. 

“ Here comes Mrs. Burton with the blueberry pies,” 
interrupted Miss Pitts. « I guess it will be full as well, 
Matthew, if I cut the pies, and I’ll help you first,” and 
a good quarter of a plump blueberry pie was placed 


At Orchard House 


21 


before Matt. But before he could taste it, down came 
another green apple, striking the piece of pie with such 
force as to send the juice up over Matt’s clean blouse 
and into his face. 

There was an instant chorus of delight from the 
other boys as Matt, his face spotted and streaked by 
the purple juice, sprang to his feet. 

“There’s somebody up in that tree,” he declared 
angrily, “ and I’m going to find out who it is. I won’t 
sit here and have things thrown at me,” and Matt 
turned toward the tree. 

Cathie nearly let go of the branch to which she was 
clinging. What would become of her if that boy 
climbed into the tree and discovered her ! She wished 
with all her heart that she had obeyed Miss Pitts and 
was safely at home. Then she heard Phinny’s voice, 
sharper than she had ever known it : “ Matt, sit down ! ” 

There was a little silence, and Cathie got courage to 
look down again. Matt was standing at one end of 
the table, and Phinny at the other. Matt was two 
years younger than Phinny, but he was a sturdy, 
strongly built boy, and as Cathie looked she wondered 
to herself why Matt, who was nearly fourteen, should 
still be in the asylum. “ I guess it’s because he wants 
to fight everybody,” she decided. “I didn’t throw 


22 ‘The Tittle Runaways 

either of those apples, but that boy wouldn’t believe it 
if he found me up here.” 

“ Here, Matthew, wipe your face with this towel, 
and I’m dreadful afraid those spots won’t wash out of 
your waist ; blueberry stains are about the worst stains 
there are. I’ll put it to soak to-night in cold water, 
though. You sit right down, and I’ll give you another 
piece of pie. Here, Phinny, you just fill Matthew’s 
glass with milk and pass the sugar cookies. The way 
we are pestered with squirrels ! And foxes ! Phinny, 
you tell the boys how Fred Dwight set a trap for that 
chicken-stealing fox.” 

‘‘ My ! Isn’t Miss Pitts splendid ! ” thought Cathie, 
with a long breath of relief as she saw Matthew draw 
his chair back to the table and sit down. 

Matthew began to think better of Miss Pitts when 
he saw his second piece of pie, and forgot to be angry 
at Phinny when he tasted the sugar cookies. 

Cathie began to feel very tired and uncomfortable. 
Her hands and arms were cramped, and it was hard to 
keep quiet. “I wish they would go away. I mmt 
move,” she thought. Then a new fear took possession 
of her. Honny had finished his dinner, and now his 
bright eyes were looking straight up among the 
branches of the apple tree. 


At Orchard House 


23 


“ He sees me ! I know he does,” thought Cathie. 
And the branches about her began to move, bending 
and swaying, for Cathie, nervous and afraid, had 
stepped from one bough to another. A number of 
apples now fell, striking the table and bouncing off on 
to the grass. Phinny sprang up so quickly that his 
chair upset. 

“ Come on, boys ! ” he exclaimed. Come out to 
the barn and see Fred Dwight’s air-ship.” 

If Phinny had had time to think he would have 
given some other reason for getting the boys away 
from the table ; for the air-ship that Fred was making, 
using the old barn for a workshop, was to have been 
kept a secret between Fred, Len and Phinny until Fred 
should have given his permission to tell it. 

But Phinny hardly realized what he had said, for 
looking up he had seen Cathie’s brown gingham dress, 
and realized that he must get the boys away before 
they all saw her hiding there; and he spoke almost 
without realizing what he said. 

“ Air-ship ? ” exclaimed Matt, enthusiastically. “ I’d 
give anything to see one,” and, for the first time 
since his arrival at the farm, the surly look left his 
face. 

The Watson twins were as eager as Matt, and all the 


24 "The Liittle Runaways 

boys, even Nonny, started off instantly. Almost un- 
consciously Phinny reached out his hand to ■N’onny, 
and, as he felt the thin little fingers clasp his, Phinny 
resolved that ISTonny should never go back to the 
asylum. ‘‘ 111 find some way to take care of him,” he 
thought. 

‘‘ Who’s Fred Dwight ? ” questioned Matt, who 
was now close beside Phineas. 

They were now quite a distance from the tree, 
nearly to the barn. At Matt’s question Phineas 
stopped short. 

“ Boys ! ” he said quickly, looking at the eager faces 
about him. “I’ve just done a mighty mean thing. 
I’ve broken a promise. Fred Dwight is my friend, and 
I promised not to tell about his air-ship. I’m mighty 
sorry. But I’m going to ask you boys to forget it. 
Not to talk about it even to each other.” 

“ All right,” said Nonny, looking up into Phinny’s 
face. 

“We won’t tell ! ” declared Matt ; “ he’ll never hear 
us peach on you. Come on ; where is the air-ship ? ” 
and Matt started toward the old barn. 

“ Hold on. Matt,” called Phinny ; “ you can’t see the 
air-ship.” 

“ Why not ? ” questioned Matt, a little defiantly. 


At Orchard House 


25 

“We wouldn’t tell on him, would we, boys?” There 
was a little murmur of agreement from the others. 

For a moment Phinny stood silent, blaming himself 
bitterly. A nice beginning, he thought to himself. 
These boys would always remember that he had 
broken his word. 

“ Come on,” Matt urged again. 

“ You can’t see it,” said Phinny briefly, “ not until 
Fred says so. I’ll tell him that you know about it, and 
ask him to let you have a look at it. That’s the best 
I can do. Come on and have a look at my sister’s 
chickens ! ” 

“ You got a sister ? ” asked IS’onny. 

“ Sure,” answered Phinny, who was already making 
excuses to himself for Cathie’s thoughtless prank. It 
never occurred to Phineas to blame Cathie for any- 
thing. He was always ready to take blame himself. 

Mrs. Burton and Len came across the field from 
Mrs. Burton’s house just as Phinny and his companions 
disappeared behind the barn in the direction of the 
chicken yards. 

“ I don’t see where Cathie is,” said Mrs. Burton a 
little anxiously. “I hurried home, after I’d helped 
Eliza what I could, to eat dinner with Cathie, but she 
wasn’t there ! ” 


26 "The Ljittle Runaways 

“There she is, a part of her!” responded Len, 
laughingly, pointing down the slope toward the apple 
tree. 

“ My soul ! ” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. For she saw 
Cathie just swinging herself down from the stout 
branches. The tan shoes, the brown gingham skirt, 
and then the braid of yellow hair. And then, as Mrs. 
Burton looked, Cathie stood safe and sound on solid 
ground. “ If that don’t beat all ! ” said Mrs. Burton. 
“ She must be hungry as a wolf. I wonder what Eliza 
Pitts is saying to her ? ” For they could see Miss Pitts, 
who had sunk into a chair at the appearance of Cathie’s 
feet swinging from the tree, and could hear her voice. 

“ Oh, Miss Pitts is probably praising Cathie, and 
telling her that no other girl would ever be clever 
enough to climb a tree,” said Len laughingly. 

But Miss Pitts was not praising Cathie. 

“ Catherine Burton ! ” she said, as Cathie stood be- 
fore her with flushed face, her gingham skirt torn from 
hem to binding, and her left sleeve showing an ugly 
rent. “ If I was ever surprised in all my life I am now. 
A girl of thirteen, or nearly, to go hiding herself up 
in that tree. I told you to go home, didn’t I ? ” 

“ Yes’m ! ” answered Cathie meekly. 

“Well, here comes your mother. And I must say I 


At Orchard House 


27 

never expected to see the day when I’d be glad that I 
didn’t adopt you.” 

Cathie put her hand over her eyes and began to cry. 

‘‘ What is the matter, Cathie ? ” and Mrs. Burton 
hurried toward the little girl and put her arm about 
her. 

“ Matter ! ” exclaimed Miss Pitts. “ Well, she’s been 
hiding up in that tree and throwing green apples down 
at the boys. That’s what she’s been doing ! ” 

“ 1 didn’t ! ” declared Cathie. 

“ Len, you just take hold and help me with this 
table,” commanded Miss Pitts. “Those boys have 
eaten enough for ten men. They’ll get bread and milk 
for supper. J^ow, Martha Burton, I tell you nothing 
but the truth. Cathie hid herself in that tree,” and Miss 
Pitts pointed an accusing finger toward the apple tree 
as if it were in some way to blame, “ and she thre\^ 
apples at Matthew Warren.” 

“ I didn’t ! I didn’t ! ” sobbed Cathie. 


CHAPTEE III 


GETTING ACQUAINTED 

Matt’s face grew sulky, and he hung back behind 
the other boys as Phineas led the way toward his new 
chicken yards behind the Eastman barn. 

“ These are white Wyandottes,” Phinny said, as 
they came to the first yard where the big snowy fowls 
strutted proudly about. 

The Watson twins exclaimed in delight, and evi- 
dently found Wyandottes as wonderful as any aero- 
plane. 

“ These are the Khode Island Eeds,” continued 
Phineas. 

“ I always wanted to see a live chicken,” said Arthur 
Joyce soberly. Everything about Arthur was sober. 
His hair was a sober brown, and so were his eyes. 
His skin was dull, and even his blouse was a sober tint 
of brown. 

“ ‘ See a live chicken.’ Humph ! ” repeated Matt 
scornfully. “ I guess that’s about all you can see here.” 

“ You can see a good many things besides chickens, 
28 


At Orchard House 


29 


Matt, if you want to,” said Phineas pleasantly. “ Why, 
the first summer I came here I saw a bear, and killed 
it, too.” 

There was a chorus of exclamations and questions 
from the boys, and the twins forgot the chickens as 
they listened to Phinny’s story of killing the bear in 
the blueberry pasture. 

“ Gee ! ” exclaimed Matt, “ wasn’t that great ! Do 
you suppose there are any bears around here now ? ” 

“ I don’t believe there’s a bear within ten miles. But 
you can never be sure,” responded Phineas. 

Matt’s face grew more hopeful. The prospect of a 
live bear, even if it was ten miles away, made life much 
more interesting to him. And, as Phinny told of a 
family of foxes that lived in a rocky pasture beyond 
the field, and of the trout to be found in the brook that 
ran through the orchard, Matt almost forgot his disap- 
pointment in not seeing the flying-machine. 

“ To-morrow, boys, I’m going to ask three of you to 
help Len Jones hoe potatoes, and the other three to go 
blueberrying with me.” 

“ I can go blueberrying,” said Nonny. 

‘‘ Yes, you and Andrew, Arthur and I will go after 
berries. We’ll take our luncheon and stay all day. 
And Matt, Charles and Chester can help Len.” 


30 The hittle Runaways 

Matt made no response. The other boys all de- 
clared their approval, but Matthew grew silent. He 
was thinking to himself that it was just as he had sup- 
posed it would be. This month in the country meant 
that he would have to work. Hoe potatoes in the hot 
sun ! He made his mind up that he would do nothing 
of the sort. 

“ I’d rather go after berries,” he said. 

“ All right,” Phineas agreed readily. “ Arthur can 
help Len, and you can work at the hoeing the next day 
with me.” 

“ Humph ! ” muttered the boy. 

Phineas did not notice Matt’s surliness. He felt sure 
that before the month was over Matt would feel better- 
natured ; and Phineas had no idea of neglecting his farm 
work. “ If I don’t keep things moving and make this 
place pay I can’t get to college or do much of any- 
thing,” he said to himself. 

It was late in the afternoon when Phineas brought 
the boys back to Orchard House. Len had gone home, 
and Miss Pitts was setting the table for the boys’ sup- 
per. Although she had declared that bread and milk 
was all they would get, there was a big bowl of blue- 
berries on the table, and a big loaf of freshly baked 
sponge cake. 


At Orchard House 


3 > 

“ I’ll be over first thing in the morning,” said Phineas, 
as he bade Miss Pitts and the boys good-night. 

As Phinny walked home across the field he thought 
over the afternoon with a little sense of disappointment 
and discouragement. The twins seemed silent and 
rather stupid, Phinny decided, Andrew and Arthur did 
not look as if they could enjoy much, and Nonny — 
well, Phineas said to himself that Nonny should have a 
good time anyway. But Matt was the real trouble. 
Phinny had been quick to see that this big-framed, 
good-looking boy was determined to do as he pleased, 
and did not care much about anything outside of his 
own pleasure. And Cathie ! Phineas wondered what 
had possessed his sister to hide in the apple tree. “ She’s 
prided herself on being almost ‘ grown-up,’ and then to 
do a thing like that ! She might have fallen right on 
to the table,” he thought. 

Mrs. Burton stood in the doorway watching Phinny 
as he came slowly along. 

“ Dear me ! I do hope Phinny isn’t blaming Cath- 
erine,” she thought a little anxiously. 

“ Supper’s all ready, Phineas,” she said as Phinny 
came up the steps. “ Well, they seem just the kind of 
boys you wanted, don’t they, son ? Homely as they 
can be, every one of ’em, except that Matthew Warren, 


32 T'he Little Runaways 

and he’s ugly enough inside to make him act 
homely.” 

“ Nonny’s all right,” answered Phinny. “ I’m tired,” 
he declared with a little sigh, sitting down at the table. 

“ My land, Phinny ! You don’t suppose you’re go- 
ing to be sick, do you ? ” Mrs. Burton asked anxiously. 
“ I’ve known you to work from sunrise to sunset and 
never say a word about being tired, and to-day you’ve 
just been playing about, so to speak, and if you feel 
tired I’m afraid you’re going to be sick.” 

“ It’s that Matt Warren ! I know,” declared Cathie 
before Phineas could respond. “ When that apple 
struck him he was sure that some one threw it. And 
when the second one fell into his blueberry pie, he 
was as mad as he could be.” 

Phineas drew a little sigh of relief. “ You didn’t 
throw the apples, then ? ” he exclaimed. 

Cathie stamped her foot angrily. “ Phinny Trot 
Burton ! ” she exclaimed, “ you ought to know I 
wouldn’t throw apples at him.” 

“ You hid in the tree,” responded Phineas, and he 
looked at Cathie as if to say that hiding in the apple 
tree was just as bad as throwing apples. 

“ Children ! ” came Mother Burton’s warning voice, 
“ I don’t want to hear another word about that old 


At Orchard House 


33 


Baldwin apple tree. I’m only too thankful that Cathie 
didn’t fall out of it and break her neck. And as for 
you, Phineas, you’ve got just what you’ve wanted : six 
homely, useless boys. I^ow let’s see you make the 
best of it. You think you’re pretty tired to-night, 
Phineas, but it’s nothing to what you will be before 
August ends. ITow, Cathie, you help him to some of 
that creamed fish.” 

Phinny smiled up at Mrs. Burton as she patted his 
shoulder, and Cathie heaped his plate with creamed 
fish, a baked potato and two pieces of corn bread. 

“I was silly to climb that tree,” Cathie declared. 
“ What do you suppose makes me do such things ? ” 
for Cathie had often “ forgot to think,” as she would 
explain her adventures. 

Phinny smiled, and so did Mother Burton, at Cathie’s 
question. 

“ You knew I was up there, Phinny, didn’t you ?” 
Cathie continued. 

Phinny nodded. “ That’s why I hurried the boys 
away,” he said. “ There’s no harm done, Cathie ! 
Don’t feel bad about it.” 

“ Miss Pitts was horrid ! She wouldn’t believe me 
when I said I didn’t throw the apples,” said Cathie, 
helping herself to custard. 


34 


'The Tittle Runaways 

“ Well, well, Cathie ! ” said Mrs. Burton, a little re- 
provingly. “ Eliza sets the world by you. Ill step over 
after supper and tell her the truth about that tree.” 

Phinny laughed. “Anybody would think to hear 
you. Mother Burton, that the apple tree was to blame,” 
he said. 

Phinny was up before any one else in the house the 
next morning. He filled Mother Burton’s wood-box, 
milked the cow, fed Splendid, his pretty young horse, 
and ran across to Orchard Farm. He was a little sur- 
prised to find the farmhouse door open, the wood -box 
filled, and the kitchen fire started. As he stood just 
inside the door a small figure came up the path with a 
big bunch of ox-eyed daisies. 

“Hello ! You’re out early, Honny ! ” said Phineas, 
going to meet the boy. 

“ Got these to put on the table,” Nonny explained a 
little timidly. Miss Pitts came bustling out of the 
pantry as they returned to the house. 

“ I’ll go up and call Matt and Andrew,” said Phinny, 
“ for it’s quite a walk to the berry pasture and I want 
to get an early start. The boys who are going to help 
Len may sleep if they want to, and if you’re willing, 
Miss Pitts. ” 

“ Just as well as not,” agreed Miss Pitts. “ I’m going 


At Orchard House 


35 


to make a cook of every one of these boys before the 
month’s over,” she continued, “ so that wherever they 
are they can help themselves.” 

“ I can wash dishes,” said Nonny, who was putting 
his daisies in an old brown pitcher. 

“ That’s a great help,” said Miss Pitts. 

Andrew Hill was wide awake, but Matt did not 
waken easily, and declared that he was too sleepy to 
get up. 

“ That’s good,” laughed Phinny ; “ sleep as long as 
you want to. I’m going to show Andrew and Honny 
the place where I killed the bear. You can help Len 
when you do get up.” 

But Matthew was suddenly wide awake, and quite 
ready for breakfast with Honny and Andrew, and 
when Phinny returned from his own breakfast the 
three boys were waiting to start. Phinny brought 
four good-sized baskets ; the three empty ones he gave 
to his companions. 

“ I’ll carry the lunch,” he said. 

“ What are you going to do with so many berries ? ” 
asked Matt. 

“Part of them are for pies and puddings for you 
boys to eat, and part are to sell to pay for the flour to 
make the pies and puddings,” responded Phinny. 


36 ‘The Tittle Runaways 

“ I thought we’d have to earn our board ! ” said 
Matt, a little scornfully. 

“ I’ve earned mine ever since I came here, or tried 
to,” Phinny responded pleasantly. “I thought per- 
haps you boys would like the chance.” 

“ Sure ! ” declared Andrew, with more enthusiasm 
than he had yet shown. “ I thought maybe I could 
find me a place to work down here ; I mean a place to 
work steady.” And he looked at Phineas hopefully. 

“ Perhaps you can,” replied Phineas. 

Nonny kept close beside Phinny; he seemed to 
realize that he had found a friend. Andrew began 
to ask questions about farming, which Phinny was 
glad to answer. Matt stalked along, gloomy and 
silent. “ Pick berries to sell, eh ? ” he thought to him- 
self. “ A great kind of a vacation.” He’d find a way 
to show this smart Phineas Burton that he couldn’t 
make Matt Warren work, he resolved. 

But his sulkiness did not trouble the others. The 
blue August sky, the line of distant woods, were a de- 
light to Andrew and Honny, and the fragrance of the 
pastures and fields was all about them, and Andrew 
and Honny began to think that life was full of wonder- 
ful and beautiful days. 


CHAPTEE IV 
matt’s choice 

“Now, Leander, I want to give you a word of 
warning about those Watson twins and Arthur Joyce. 
It’s eight o’clock now, and about ten I shall come to 
this door and wave my apron. You keep a lookout, 
and when you see me waving you send those boys right 
up to the house.” 

Miss Pitts stood in the doorway of Orchard House, and 
Len, leaning on his hoe, stood in front of her. The three 
boys were helping Cathie feed the chickens. Cathie 
had decided, as she peered down from the apple tree, 
that the Watson twins were really the homeliest boys 
that she had ever seen. And as she told them about 
the chickens, what kinds of food they liked best, and 
how many eggs Phinny sold each week, and no re- 
sponse came, she began tb think Charles and Chester 
were as stupid as they were homely. But it was not 
stupidity. The twins were very shy, and Cathie was 
the first girl outside the asylum who had ever spoken 
to them. 

“ Do you want me to leave off work and come up to 
37 


38 "The Liittle Runaways 

the house with the other boys, Miss Pitts ? ” questioned 
Len. 

“Just as you please about that, Leander. I’m not 
paying your wages,” responded Miss Pitts. 

“ I can see just how it’s going to be,” said Len. “ I’ll 
be worked to death.” 

“ That’s for you to decide, Leander,” and Miss Pitts 
and Len exchanged a friendly smile of understanding 
as the tall boy started off across the yard, and Miss 
Pitts stood waiting for Cathie. 

Mrs. Burton had told Miss Pitts “ all about that 
Baldwin apple tree,” and Miss Pitts quite understood 
that Cathie had not thrown the apples which had struck 
Matt and sent the blueberry juice over his blouse. 

“ Cathie,” Miss Pitts said very soberly, as the little 
girl reached the door, “ I guess you’ll have to forgive 
me for saying what I did about your throwing those 
apples. I ought to have known that if you said you 
didn’t throw them, why, you didn’t.” 

Cathie’s face was very sober. “ Yes’m,” she re- 
sponded. “ I didn’t suppose you’d think I threw the 
apples. But I’m real sorry I climbed up in that tree. 
I don’t know what made me.” 

“ You come in and have a cooky,” suggested Miss 
Pitts, and in a few moments Cathie and Miss Pitts 


At Orchard House 


39 

were busy with the morning work of Orchard House, 
as good friends as ever. 

“ I’m going to be just as patient as I can be with the 
way these boys do things and don’t do things,” Miss 
Pitts said when they found that Matthew Warren had 
thrown his pillow on the floor, that Arthur Joyce had 
worn his best clothes into the potato field, and that the 
Watson twins had carefully wrapped their best shoes 
in their blouses and put them under their beds. 

“ Mother Burton and I are going over to the village 
this afternoon,” said Cathie. “ Do you want us to stop 
at your shop ? ” 

“ I should admire to have you,” declared Miss Pitts, 
“ and you tell Lina Simpkins not to make any extra ef- 
fort about putting things to rights. Land knows where 
I’d find anything if she should start to set things in 
order.” 

Cathie promised, and when she started for home it was 
just ten o’clock, and Miss Pitts was at the door waving 
her apron. Miss Pitts stood there until she saw the 
three boys coming across the field, then she stepped to 
the pantry and brought out a pitcher filled with milk, 
and a loaf of molasses gingerbread. 

‘‘ ’Twon’t hurt ’em a mite,” she said aloud as if in 
response to some unseen objector. 


40 


The Little Runaways 

The boys looked warm and tired as they went into 
the shed to wash their hands and splash the cool water 
over their faces. 

“ Sit down on the steps a minute, boys,” called Miss 
Pitts, and the boys obeyed. Their faces brightened 
when Miss Pitts put the tin cups and pitcher of milk 
on the top step, and told them to help themselves, and 
in a moment returned with the gingerbread. 

“ I guess you can divide that gingerbread without 
my help,” she said smilingly. 

The boys nodded silently, and Miss Pitts returned to 
the house. 

“ It looks to me as if those boys feel most too old to 
enjoy gingerbread,” she thought, as she listened a mo- 
ment for some word of satisfaction from her guests. 
But had she looked back she would have changed her 
mind. The Watson twins were stamping their bare 
feet with delight, and Arthur Joyce’s face fairly 
beamed with satisfaction as he broke the gingerbread 
into three equal parts. 

“ I guess we’re goin’ to have a good time,” Chester 
Watson whispered to his brother, between bites, of 
gingerbread. His brother nodded. He could not 
waste time, just then, in words. 

When the last crumb of gingerbread and the last 


At Orchard House 


4 » 


drop of milk had disappeared, Arthur picked up the 
plate and pitcher and carried them carefully into the 
kitchen. Miss Pitts was not there. Arthur carried the 
dishes to the sink, rinsed them thoroughly and stood 
them on the broad, freshly scoured sink shelf. Then 
he tiptoed back to the door-steps. 

“ Len said we could play around till noon,” Chester 
remarked soberly. 

“ What’s ‘ play around ’ ? ” questioned his brother, as 
if he supposed ‘‘ around ” to be some kind of a game. 
Neither of the other boys replied. They did not know 
much about games. 

“ I guess we could go down to the brook,” ventured 
Arthur ; and Miss Pitts, who was sitting in the front 
doorway shelling peas, saw three sedate little boys 
walk down the little slope toward the brook. 

“Why don’t they run?” she whispered to herself. 
“ Land, I suppose the yard to an orphan asylum ain’t 
scarcely big enough for boys to race about in,” and Miss 
Pitts said to herself that it was a blessed thing that 
Cathie and Phineas had come to Skillings Tillage. 

The boys looked at the clear brook, and at the clean 
white pebbles over which it flowed. They walked 
along a little way, now and then dipping their toes into 
the water. 


42 "The L.ittle Runaways 

“ Let’s wade ! ” exclaimed Arthur. “ Nobody’ll care. 
It won’t be any harm,” and in a moment the three 
boys with their knickerbockers rolled well up over their 
knees were wading happily up the stream. 

It was Chester who saw the first pollywog, but 
Charles was the first boy to catch one. By this time 
they were all talking, calling to each other from dif- 
ferent places where each boy was walling up a little 
pool to put the polly wogs in. They even forgot to be 
careful of their clothes. It was the happiest morning 
the three boys had ever known. And when Miss 
Pitts rang the dinner bell, they looked at each other 
almost in terror. 

“What will she say when she sees our clothes?” 
Arthur asked a little fearfully. The Watson twins did 
not answer. But they hurried to the house. It might 
be very wrong to have the sleeves of your blouse sop- 
ping wet, but to be late to dinner would be even worse, 
they thought, and reached the house just as Len ap- 
peared bringing water to fill the big pails in the shed. 

“ See here,” he called to the boys ; “ after this you 
boys look out for the wood and water supply of Or- 
chard House. Keep these pails filled with water, and 
that wood-box full of wood.” 

“ Yes, sir,” the three boys answered in chorus, and 


At Orchard House 


43 

Len turned quickly away that they might not see him 
smile. He was very well satisfied, however, to have 
them call him “ Sir.” 

“ I’m going to take you boys fishing this afternoon. 
I’ll be over right after dinner,” he said as he started off 
across the fields toward his own home. 

The boys quite forgot their wet blouses and knicker- 
bockers, and stood looking at each other in delight. 
“ I knew a feUer once who’d been fishin’,” Arthur man- 
aged to say, and just then Miss Pitts called “ Dinner’s 
all ready,” and they went into the big, cool dining- 
room. 

“Well, you’ve found the brook, I see,” Miss Pitts re- 
marked smilingly. “ You get Phinny to tell you about 
that black pool near the old stone bridge ; that’s the 
only dangerous place in the brook.” 

“ She don’t care if our blouses are wet ! ” Charles 
whispered to his brother, and all at once they realized 
that they were having a good time, and that Miss Pitts 
wanted them to have a good time. 

“ We’re going fishin’ this afternoon with Len ! ” an- 
nounced Arthur. 

“We found pollywogs in the brook ! ” added Chester, 
and Charles helped himself to butter for the first time 
in his life, while Miss Pitts resolved that they should 


44 The Liittle Runaways 

have custard pie as well as blueberry pie, and told them 
that Len knew all the best places to catch trout, and 
that perhaps he’d take them up to Long Pond some day 
after pickerel. 

She stood in the doorway and watched them start off 
for their afternoon’s sport, and when they all turned 
and waved their hats to her she waved her apron in re- 
sponse, and went back to her work singing “ Sweet 
Beulah Land,” and thinking that these boys must be a 
great deal better than most asylum boys. 

It was about three in the afternoon when Phinny, 
with Nonny close beside him. Matt and Andrew ap- 
peared with their baskets of berries. 

“ Where are the other boys ? ” Phinny asked. 

“ Len’s taken them fishing,” replied Miss Pitts. “ I 
guess they’ve had a real good time to-day. They had 
a little lunch about ten, and then played about the 
brook until dinner time, and Len started them right off 
as soon as they finished dinner.” 

Matt set down his basket with such a thump that 
some of the berries rolled out on the floor. 

“ I thought you said they were going to hoe potatoes 
to-day,” he exclaimed angrily, turning toward Phineas. 

“ I didn’t say all day, did I ? ” responded Phinny. 
“ You had your choice. Matt.” 


At Orchard House 


45 


“ Here’s your milk and gingerbread,” said Miss Pitts ; 
‘‘ the other boys had theirs this morning, and you have 
yours now ; that’s all the difference.” 

“ I’ve got to get these berries ready to take to the 
Junction,” said Phineas. 

“ Can’t I help ? ” asked Honny. 

“ Sure,” answered Phinny. Andrew also offered, but 
Matt said nothing, nor did he help in any way. He 
ate his gingerbread and milk and then, without a word 
to any one, sauntered out of the house and down 
toward the brook. 

“ I’m afraid we’re going to have trouble with that 
boy,” 'Miss Pitts said to Phineas, following him into the 
shed. 

“ I’m afraid so,” Phinny answered, a little soberly. 


CHAPTEK Y 


MISS MABEL GATES 

Cathie Burton swung back and forth on the stout 
gate under the big elm tree in front of the little brown 
cottage. The strong iron chain creaked as the gate 
swung out and rattled as it came in. Cathie looked 
across the road and meadows to the distant woods, 
and wondered what her friend Helen Harper and 
Helen’s young lady visitor from Boston were doing. 
Len and Phinny had taken the asylum boys for a day’s 
picnic to Long Pond, and Miss Pitts had gone to her 
own home for the day, to rest and make sure that 
Lina Simpkins was proving faithful to her charge. 
Mrs. Burton was sitting by the window sewing. The 
day was very warm, and Cathie had wandered down 
the path to the shade of the big tree. 

“ I don’t know but what Cathie is almost too heavy 
to swing on that gate,” thought Mrs. Burton, as she 
glanced up from her work. “ If those hinges should 
give way she’d get a fall. But, land, ’twill be time 
enough to worry when the hinges do break,” and Mrs. 
Burton settled comfortably back in her rocking-chair. 

46 


At Orchard House 


47 


But all at once the creak and rattle ceased, and Mrs. 
Burton looked out again. Cathie was now standing 
near the fence. She was standing very erect, and 
looking down the road toward the village. 

Mrs. Burton looked too, and saw a low basket 
phaeton drawn by two black ponies coming swiftly 
toward the house. 

“I guess it’s Helen Harper bringing her company 
over to see Cathie,” thought Mrs. Burton. “ I’ll step 
into the pantry and cut some cake and make some 
lemonade. It’ll taste good after their ride.” 

“ Hullo, Cathie ! ” called Helen, stopping the ponies 
in front of the gate. “ This is my friend Miss Gates.” 

Miss Gates nodded smilingly, but did not trouble to 
speak. She had heard all about Cathie, and wondered 
to herself why Helen Harper wanted an ‘‘asylum 
girl ” for a friend. Mabel Gates was sixteen years old, 
and had been very unfortunate in her bringing up. 
She was a pupil at the private school where Helen 
Harper had been a pupil for a year, and, although the 
two girls were not at all alike, they had become 
friends; and now Mabel had come for a fortnight’s 
visit with Helen. She was a tall, slender girl, with 
blue eyes and light hair. Her hands were very white 
and shapely, and Mabel never forgot to put on gloves 


48 "The L,ittle Runaways 

when she went outdoors. If she were only going to 
sit on the piazza she drew on a pair of loose white 
chamois gloves. She brought a great many pretty 
dresses to wear during her visit to the farm, and 
Cathie looked at her admiringly. Mabel’s white lace 
hat, her dress of white embroidered linen and lace, her 
white gloves and shoes, all seemed very beautiful to 
Cathie. 

“ I’m real glad to see you,” Cathie said cordially. 
“ You’ll come in and see Mother Burton, won’t you ? ” 

‘‘ Of course we will,” responded Helen. “ Jump out, 
Mabel, and I’ll drive the ponies further into the shade.” 

Mabel liked to think of herself as really grown up. 
Her skirts were longer than Helen’s, and she wore a 
gold bracelet on each wrist. Cathie nearly exclaimed 
when she saw that one of these bracelets held a tiny 
gold watch. Mabel carried a silver bag, and wore a 
chain and locket. She stood just outside the gate, 
which Cathie was holding open, until Helen had 
fastened the ponies, and then linked her arm in Helen’s 
as the girls walked up the path. 

Mrs. Burton came to the door to meet them, and 
kissed Helen, and held out her hand to Mabel with a 
friendly word of welcome. Mabel responded pleas- 
antly, but she glanced about the sunny sitting-room. 


At Orchard House 49 

the room that Cathie and Phineas both knew to be the 
most beautiful room in the world, with a scornful ex- 
pression. Mabel had heard her father say that Helen 
Harper’s father was one of the richest men in the 
state, and her mother had been pleased when Mrs. 
Harper invited Mabel to the farm, but Mabel was 
beginning to think that her father and mother were 
mistaken. She had seen Mrs. Harper making bread, 
and Helen wash dishes ; and Helen had not a single 
ring or bracelet, and generally wore dresses of gingham. 
Mabel’s own father was a bookkeeper for a large 
woolen mill, and Mabel was growing more confident 
every day that the Harpers were “only farmers.” 
She looked at Mrs. Burton’s neat dress of black and 
white print, and at Cathie’s dress of brown gingham, 
and at the plain, useful furniture of the little house ; if 
these people were the Harpers’ friends, “ an old 
country woman and an asylum girl,” she said to her- 
self, she should think Helen would have sense enough 
to keep quiet about them. 

“Your name’s Mabel, I believe; well, it’s a pretty 
name,” and Mrs. Burton smiled, and thought to her- 
self that Mabel was a pretty girl. 

Miss Gates smiled. She had been taught to smile at 
people, to be pleasant to every one, even to “com- 


50 The Tittle Runaways 

mon people.” It was the proper thing for a young 
lady to be pleasant. Princess, the big white cat, came 
into the room and walked straight toward Mabel. 

“ Oh, what a perfectly lovely cat ! ” Mabel ex- 
claimed, bending down to stroke the white fur, and 
quite forgetting, for the moment, to be pleasant and 
superior. 

Cathie’s face brightened ; perhaps Miss Gates was 
nice after all, she thought hopefully. “Princess has 
two pretty white kittens. Would you like to see 
them ? ” she asked, crossing the room and kneeling be- 
side the white cat. 

“ I’d love to,” declared Mabel. 

Just then Mrs. Burton excused herself for a moment, 
and returned bringing a tray with the cake and lemon- 
ade. Mabel’s eyes brightened. She was thirsty, and 
she loved rich cake, and Mrs. Burton’s cake was dark 
and fruity ; she was sure it would be good. 

As Mabel ate and drank Helen was telling her 
friends of all the happenings of the farm. 

“ I really came over to ask a favor, Mrs. Burton,” she 
said laughingly. “ I want to take Cathie home with me 
for a visit. You can spare her a couple of days, can’t 
you?” 

Mabel looked at Helen in surprise. Helen spoke as 


At Orchard House 


5 ' 


if it would be a favor to let Cathie come to the Harper 
farm. Mabel felt angry and resentful. “ She might 
consider me. It will be a nice thing for me to write 
to my friends that there’s an asylum girl visiting at 
the Harpers,” she thought, suddenly losing her appe- 
tite for the pound cake. 

“ I’d love to go ! ” exclaimed Cathie. 

“ Well, you can, just as well as not,” said Mrs. 
Burton. “ Miss Pitts being so near, and everybody 
being so interested in Orchard House will keep me 
from being lonesome for a couple of days. Cathie, 
you’d better take your blue linen dress in case you 
want to dress up,” and Mrs. Burton nodded smilingly. 

Mrs. Burton thought that Mabel was a nice quiet 
girl. “ She’s been brought up real well, I can see 
that,” thought the kind-hearted woman, who mistook 
Mabel’s sulky quiet for natural shyness. 

“ Kun up-stairs, Cathie, and put your things in a 
basket,” suggested Helen, “and I’ll show Mabel the 
kittens.” 

But Mabel’s interest in white kittens had vanished. 
She wished herself back in the tiny apartment in 
Boston, but knew that her father and mother were 
away for a short vacation, and were glad that their 
daughter was at the Harper farm. 


52 The Tittle Runaways 

In a short time Cathie appeared with her basket. 
She had put on a fresh dress of plaided gingham, her 
hair was tied with a wide white ribbon and she wore 
the pretty straw hat that Miss Pitts had trimmed for 
her in the early summer. To Mrs. Burton and Helen 
Cathie looked very nice indeed. But Mabel was quick 
to notice that Cathie did not wear any gloves, that her 
stockings were a cheap cotton weave, and her tan shoes 
rather scuffed and worn. 

“ I’ll bring her back Saturday morning, Mrs. Burton,” 
Helen said, as Cathie, happy and smiling, took her 
place in the pony carriage. 

Mrs. Burton stood at the gate and watched them 
drive off, and then went back to her quiet sitting-room. 

“ I’m real glad Cathie’s got such a good friend as 
Helen; and like as not this pretty Boston girl and 
Cathie will like each other real well,” and, with these 
pleasant thoughts for company, Mrs. Burton again took 
up her sewing. 

“Margaret has gone for a drive with Koy,” said 
Helen, as the ponies climbed the long hill. Margaret 
was Helen’s younger sister, and Koy was the “ grown- 
up” brother. Roy had graduated from college and 
was now his father’s right hand man on the Harper 
farm. It was Koy who had encouraged and helped 


At Orchard House 53 

Phineas make the old Eastman house into “ Orchard 
House,” a vacation home for homeless boys. Mabel 
had hoped that Roy and Margaret would ask her to 
drive with them, but although Helen’s brothers and 
sisters were courteous and pleasant toward Mabel, 
none of them showed much desire for her company, 
and the task of entertaining her was already becoming 
rather difficult for Helen. She had thought that 
Mabel would be interested in Cathie, but before the 
three girls reached the farm Helen realized that she 
had been mistaken. 

Mabel sat stiff and silent ; she only spoke when 
Cathie or Helen asked her some question. It had not 
occurred to Cathie that Mabel was displeased to have 
her as a companion ; she thought, as had Mrs. Burton, 
that Mabel was, perhaps, shy. So Cathie smiled at 
Mabel in a most friendly fashion, and chattered happily 
away about the adventures of the boys at Orchard 
House. 

Mrs. Harper gave Cathie a warm welcome. “ Take 
your basket right up-stairs, Cathie. I’m going to give 
you the extra bed in Mabel’s room, so that she can 
have company,” she said with her pleasant smile. 

Mabel was already half-way up the stairs, and did 
not hear what Mrs. Harper said, so that a few moments 


54 


The Tittle Runaways 

later, when Cathie, basket in hand, stood in her 
chamber door, Mabel looked at her in genuine surprise. 

“Didn’t you know I was to share your room?” 
Cathie asked smilingly. 

“ What ! ” exclaimed the older girl. 

Cathie nodded. “ I always sleep in this room,” she 
explained, “ and Mrs. Harper thought you would like 
company.” 

“ Kind, I’m sure,” sniffed Mabel. 

“ Isn’t she ? ” responded Cathie, beginning to unpack 
her basket. “ I love to come over here. You must be 
having a splendid time.” 

Mabel did not answer, nor did she speak again while 
Cathie was in the room. Cathie began to wonder if, 
after all, Mabel wanted the room to herself. “ Maybe 
she’s homesick,” Cathie thought, and with a friendly 
“ good-bye ” she slipped away, and ran down-stairs. 

“ I suppose Cathie wants to see the bantams first 
thing,” said Harry Harper, a boy of eighteen, who was 
to enter the state university that autumn. 

“ Yes, indeed,” responded Cathie eagerly, for her 
own highly prized bantams had been a gift from the 
Harpers. 

Mabel, angry and unhappy, was standing at her 
window looking out, and saw Cathie and Harry walk- 



“l ALWAYS SLEEP IN THIS ROOM’’ 






■ 


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At Orchard House 


55 

ing across the yard toward the stables, beyond which 
were the yards, or “ runs,” for the chickens. 

“ They all act as if she was of as much importance as 
I,” thought the silly girl. “ I suppose they don’t know 
any better. That’s what comes of living on a farm.” 

At this thought Mabel suddenly made a resolve. She 
would let the Harpers see that there was a difference 
between Mabel Gates, a pupil from Miss Smith’s 
fashionable school, and Cathie Burton, a girl from an 
asylum. 

“ It isn’t fair to Helen and Margaret to let them 
think a girl hke that of any consequence,” Mabel 
thought virtuously, remembering that she had heard her 
mother say that it was important for a girl to know the 
right kind of people. 

“ I’ll put that girl in her place,” she resolved, and at 
once felt happier, and went down-stairs in a more 
pleasant frame of mind. 

Margaret and Koy had returned from their drive, 
and Margaret ran off to find Cathie. Helen and Mrs. 
Harper were on the piazza and did not know that 
Mabel was standing in the doorway. 

“ Mother, dear, I’m afraid that Mabel doesn’t like 
Cathie. Perhaps Cathie had better have another 
room,” Helen said. 


56 T'he Little Runaways 

‘‘ Why, of course Mabel will like Cathie,” responded 
Mrs. Harper in surprise. 

‘‘ Well,” said Helen, after a little hesitation, I feel 
as if Mabel thought herself better than Cathie.” 

Mabel, feeling herself very much a young society 
woman, came out on the piazza, putting on her white 
gloves. 

“ I couldn’t help hearing what you and Helen were 
saying,” she said, looking at Mrs. Harper wdth her 
pretty smile. “ And Helen is quite right about this 
girl. Perhaps, Mrs. Harper,” and Mabel’s voice 
sounded as smooth and superior as that of Miss Smith 
herself, “ living in the country as you do, that you for- 
get how important it is for girls to know the right 
people ! ” 

For a moment Mrs. Harper regarded Mabel in as- 
tonishment. “Oh! You silly, silly girl,” she ex- 
claimed laughingly. “ Helen, run up-stairs and change 
Cathie’s belongings into your room and put Margaret’s 
things in Mabel’s room.” 

Helen was glad to run away. “ Mother will say 
just the right thing to Mabel,” she thought hope- 
fully. 

“ Cathie is a very dear girl,” Mrs. Harper said 
pleasantly, “and the girls thought you would like 


At Orchard House si 

to have her here. We all want you to enjoy your visit, 
Mabel.” 

Mabel, who had flushed angrily at being called “ a 
silly girl,” thought that, after all, Mrs. Harper really 
did appreciate the difference between Cathie Burton 
and herself. 

“ Oh, Mrs. Harper, of course I believe in treating 
such girls with kindness,” she responded. 

“ I see,” replied Mrs. Harper thoughtfully, and went 
down the piazza steps toward the stables where she 
knew she should find Koy. Mrs. Harper was very apt 
to go to her eldest son when things troubled her. 

Roy listened to his mother’s account of Mabel’s folly. 

“ Send her home,” he said, as Mrs. Harper finished. 
“ I’ll ride to the Junction to-night and telegraph her 
mother to expect her on the train reaching Old Orchard 
to-morrow noon.” For Mr. and Mrs. Gates were pass- 
ing their vacation at Old Orchard. 

“ Ho, we will wait until to-morrow and see how she 
behaves,” responded Mrs. Harper, “but if she hasn’t 
sense enough to be friendly we can telegraph in the 
morning.” 

“ All right, mother,” agreed the young man with his 
pleasant smile. 


CHAPTEK YI 


MAEGARET AND HARRY 

“ I don’t see why Helen asked Mabel Gates to come 
here, anyway,” Margaret grumbled as she and Cathie 
walked toward the house. “ She’s always dressed up 
and trying to act as if she was as old as our Koy.” 

“ She’s real pretty,” responded Cathie. 

“ Well, you wouldn’t think so if you had lived with 
her a whole week, and heard her say that mother’s 
sponge cake was ‘ adorable,’ and Helen’s new hat was 
‘adorable,’ and that the letter from her mother was 
‘ adorable.’ Eoy says he thinks Mabel is just silly.” 

Cathie laughed at Margaret’s reasons for not think- 
ing Mabel pretty. 

“ And I’m awfully sorry you are to have her for a 
roommate,” continued Margaret, who did not know of 
the change in her mother’s plans ; “ she throws her 
things all over the place. Helen always goes in and 
picks up her room, before any one else sees it, in the 
morning. I think Helen is ashamed of herself for ask- 
ing Mabel to come here.” 


58 


At Orchard House 


59 


Catherine looked at Margaret in astonishment, for 
she had expected that all the Harpers must be enjoying 
the visit. Cathie was really pleased that she was to 
share Mabel’s room, and rather disappointed when Mrs. 
Harper told Margaret that Cathie was to be Helen’s 
roommate. 

“ Have I got to room with Mabel ? Can’t I sleep up 
attic ? ” Margaret pleaded. But Mrs. Harper shook her 
head smilingly. 

Mabel came down to supper in a dainty dress of pale 
blue muslin. It had a sash of lace, and Cathie had 
never seen so dainty and beautiful a dress. 

“ She’s been here six days and worn fourteen dif- 
ferent dresses,” Margaret whispered to Cathie, as they 
took their places at the table. Mabel sat next Eoy. 
Cathie was between Eoy and Mrs. Harper. 

“Well, Cathie, what about Orchard House?” the 
young man asked smilingly. “ Does Phinny feel satis- 
fied with the boys ? ” 

“ Y es, indeed ! ” replied Cathie enthusiastically. “ The 
boys are having a fine time. Honny is going to make 
Mr. Goddard a visit after Orchard House closes.” 

“ These boys are from the asylum where you came 
from, I suppose ? ” said Mabel, leaning forward to look 
at Cathie. 


6o "The Little Runaways 

“ Yes,” replied the little girl, her face flushing be- 
neath Mabel’s cold stare. 

“You must feel as if they were like relations,” con- 
tinued Mabel ; then turning toward Koy she said smil- 
ingly : “ I suppose I must have heard about asylum 
children, poor things, but I never really expected to 
meet any of them.” 

Koy looked at her with an amused smile. “ Too 
bad,” he said briefly, and now it was Mabel’s turn to 
flush, and to feel that she was not quite approved of. 

Harry and Margaret were apparently enjoying some 
joke between themselves. Helen did not look up from 
her plate. She was blaming herself very bitterly for 
having asked Mabel to visit Harper farm. 

“Well, mother, what about that telegram?” Koy 
asked laughingly, as they left the supper table ; but 
Mrs. Harper shook her head. She was hoping that 
something would happen to make Mabel realize her 
own false estimate of things, or if not that, that Mabel 
would at least be civil to Cathie. And something did 
happen, but not exactly what Mrs. Harper would have 
planned or chosen. 

The four girls walked down toward the pasture with 
Harry, to admire the pretty colts. Helen wondered 
why Margaret and Harry had so suddenly changed in 


At Orchard House 


6i 


their manner toward Mabel. They walked beside her, 
asking her questions about Boston, about her amuse- 
ments and friends ; and Helen nearly exclaimed aloud 
when she heard Harry say : “You have the prettiest 
dresses I’ve ever seen.” • 

Helen clasped Cathie’s arm. “ You and I will have 
to talk to each other,” she said laughingly. 

When Mabel came back to the piazza it was evident 
that she had enjoyed her walk. She held her long 
white gloves in one hand, and was talking rather loudly, 
telling Harry about a dancing party that she had at- 
tended at a friend’s house near Boston. 

Until it was time for bed Margaret and Harry kept 
close beside Mabel, and when good-nights were said 
Mrs. Harper began to think that perhaps it would be 
possible for Mabel to finish her visit. Margaret and 
Harry exchanged a few whispered words before Mar- 
garet ran up-stairs after Mabel. 

Cathie did not feel very happy. She lay awake 
wondering why Mrs. Harper had changed her to 
Helen’s room. She thought of what Mabel had said 
to her at the supper table, and of her unfriendly stare, 
and the tears came into the little girl’s eyes. “ I wish 
I was back at Mother Burton’s,” she thought. Helen 
was fast asleep, but as Cathie lay in the little white 


62 The Tittle Runaways 

bed, wakeful and unhappy, she could hear a murmur of 
voices from the next room. “ It’s Margaret and Miss 
Gates,” she whispered to herself; she heard muffled, 
mysterious noises, as if they were up and moving about 
in their room, and then she went to sleep. When she 
awoke Margaret was in the room, and Cathie heard 
her say : 

“ Yes, Helen, Mabel wants to send a telegram to her 
father to meet her when the noon train reaches Old 
Orchard.” 

« Why ! ” exclaimed Helen. “ She isn’t sick, is 
she?” 

“She wants to go,” Margaret answered briefly. 
“ And for heaven’s sake, Helen, let her ! ” 

“ Kun and tell mother,” said Helen. 

When Mabel came down to breakfast her eyes were 
red, as if she had been crying, and she was very silent. 
Mrs. Harper looked at Mabel kindly, for she believed 
the girl to be homesick. Eoy drove off to send the 
telegram and wait for Mr. Gates’ reply, and Harry and 
Margaret insisted on driving Mabel to the station. 

It all seemed very queer to Cathie, and when Mabel 
actually held out her hand to the “ asylum girl ” and 
said, “ I’m pleased to have met you,” Helen and Mrs. 
Harper looked at each other in astonishment. 


At Orchard House 


63 

They watched Mabel drive off, with Margaret beside 
her and Harry on the front seat of the carriage. 

Helen gave a sigh of relief. “ Mabel isn’t a bit like 
what I thought,” she said. 

“And we are not a bit like what Mabel hoped 
we would be,” responded her mother smilingly. “I 
thought she seemed to be quite happy when she went 
to bed. But homesickness is a strange thing.” 

“ We’ll have a good time now, Cathie,” said Helen, 
putting her arm over Cathie’s shoulder. “Come out 
on the side piazza, Cathie. You haven’t seen Boy’s 
new telescope.” 

Eoy had mounted his fine new telescope on the side 
porch where there was room to swing it toward various 
constellations. Koy had already promised Phineas to 
set a night for him to come over with his guests, 
and Cathie was greatly interested in all that Helen 
told her of the wonders of the sky. 

“ What do you suppose Mabel said when Eoy asked 
her if she was interested in stars ? ” Helen asked 
Cathie, as the two girls perched themselves on the 
porch railing. 

Cathie shook her head. 

“ Well,” and Helen gave a little chuckle of delight, 
“ Mabel said that really she went to the theater so little 


64 ’The Tittle Runaways 

that she did not know much about stars.” The friends 
laughed together, and then Cathie grew very serious. 

“ Helen, you don’t suppose Mabel went home because 
you asked me here, do you ? ” Cathie asked. 

“ Why, Cathie, Mabel said she was pleased to have 
met you,” responded Helen. “ Of course, I know she 
acted hateful at supper last night. I can’t imagine 
what started her off, but Margaret and Harry know, 
I’m sure they do, and when Margaret gets home we’ll 
make her tell us.” 

It was nearly time for the midday dinner when 
Harry and Margaret appeared. They were both in 
high spirits. Harry went off in search of his father, 
and Margaret went in search of Helen and Cathie, and 
discovered them in the little summer-house in the corner 
of the rose garden. Helen and Cathie were both busy 
with their needles. Mrs. Harper had cut out two white 
blouses for Honny and, after stitching the seams, had 
given one to each of the girls to work the buttonholes 
and sew on the buttons. 

“Your visitor has departed. So sorry,” declared 
Margaret, flourishing her handkerchief. 

“ I didn’t suppose that having you for a roommate 
would send her straight to her mother,” responded 
Helen teasingly. 


At Orchard House ' 


65 

“Well, it just did!” said Margaret quickly, and 
without another word turned and ran back toward the 
house. 

Cathie had not seen the quick look that flashed be- 
tween the sisters, and when Helen a few moments later 
said that she would go to the house and help her 
mother with the dinner Cathie was quite content to 
have a few moments alone. She folded up the white 
blouse, and sat looking across the garden toward the 
big, comfortable white house, thinking how pleasant it 
was to come and visit Helen and Margaret, and how 
glad Mother Burton would be when she got home. She 
did not like to think about Mabel Gates, but she could 
not entirely forget her. “I know they are all glad 
she’s gone,” Cathie thought, and found a comfort in 
that. 

“ Margaret ! ” Helen exclaimed rushing into her 
sister’s room where Margaret was brushing her hair. 
“ How did you manage it ? I know that someway you 
made Mabel Gates want to go.” 

“ I knew you’d had enough of her,” responded 
Margaret, turning delightedly toward Helen ; “ it was 
Harry’s plan, and it worked splendidly. But I can’t 
tell you, Helen. Harry and I both promised. But I 
must say, Helen, I would not have believed it of you,” 


66 The Tittle Runaways 

and Margaret gave her own hair so violent a brush that 
she winced under it. 

“ Believed what ? ” Helen asked in sui^prise. 

“ Why, that you would have picked out a girl like 
that for a friend. I don’t want to go away to school if 
the girls are like her.” 

“ They’re not. And I didn’t pick her out ; she picked 
me out,” responded Helen laughingly. “ Of course if 
you promised Harry I won’t ask you to tell,” she con- 
cluded. 

“ Mother or Cathie don’t mistrust anything, do they ? ” 
Margaret questioned, a little anxiously, “ because that 
would spoil it all.” 

“ Ho, indeed ; mother thinks Mabel was homesick,” 
replied Helen. 

“ She was,” said Margaret. “ Harry and I will tell 
you all about our plan some time, Helen.” 

“ That’s all right,” the elder sister agreed. “ It’s 
Mabel’s own fault, anyway. We all wanted to like her 
and give her a good time ; but she doesn’t know what 
a good time is.” 

“Too selfish. Thinking too much about herself,” 
agreed Margaret. 


CHAPTEE YII 


MATT AND FRED 

“Well, Cathie, I suppose you had a splendid visit. 
I don’t know as I ever saw a more quiet, nicer girl 
than Helen’s friend,” said Mrs. Burton, as she and 
Cathie were getting supper on the day of Cathie’s re- 
turn from the Harper farm. 

“ Mabel was homesick, and went to join her mother 
and father yesterday,” responded Cathie ; “ and. Mother 
Burton, Mabel wasn’t nearly as nice as she looked.” 

“ It was hardly to be expected,” said Mrs. Burton. 
“ As I view it we all expect people to be as good as 
they look, and sometimes that isn’t in no way possible. 
All they ‘can do is to do their best, and I have no doubt 
Mabel did that.” 

Cathie shook her head doubtfully, but Mrs. Burton 
never encouraged the little girl to criticize other girls, 
and there were so many things to do, so many inter- 
esting things to talk about, that Mabel Gates was soon 
entirely forgotten. 

“ Miss Parker and her brother drove over and spent 
67 


68 T'he L,ittle Runaways 

the afternoon with Miss Pitts yesterday,” said Mrs. Bur- 
ton. “ Miss Parker brought over gingerbread and a fine 
lot of fresh doughnuts, and a pair of splendid stockings 
for each of the boys. I expect those boys will find 
it pretty hard to go back to the asylum.” 

“ Perhaps they won’t all have to go back,” Cathie 
ventured hopefully, for she knew that Phinny was 
making many plans for these asylum boys. 

Mrs. Burton shook her head. “ I guess they’ll all 
have to go back when the month’s over,” she responded. 
“ I recall the time when Phinny came, before I knew 
that he was a Higgins, nobody wanted to adopt a boy. 
And I guess if none of the neighbors wanted a boy like 
our Phinny they wouldn’t be apt to take Matthew 
Warren into their hearts and homes.” 

“ I wasn’t thinking of Matthew ; I was thinking of 
Honny,” responded Cathie. 

“ Matthew needs help a sight more than that little 
lame boy. Folks can see Honny’s trouble and be sorry 
for him. But Matt’s trouble is inside ; he hardly knows 
about it himself. He needs a sight of help,” declared 
Mrs. Burton. 

It was now the second week of the asylum boys’ stay 
at Orchard House. They had picked berries, hoed 
potatoes, been on fishing excursions, and helped and 


At Orchard House 69 

hindered Phinny in many ways. The Watson twins 
and Nonny Sykes were not large or strong enough to 
be of much help. Phineas made plans for Matthew 
Warren, Andrew Hill and Arthur Joyce to do a certain 
amount of work each day, but never insisted upon it. 
Andrew proved a great help, and as Miss Pitts watched 
the little fellow bringing in wood and water, following 
Phineas about, eager to make himself of use. Miss Pitts 
declared to herself that she believed Andrew would 
make just as good a boy as Phineas if he only had a 
chance. And this was indeed high praise. 

‘‘ I do hate to have Andrew go back to an asylum,” 
thought the kind-hearted woman, “ and me with a 
good spare room, facing southeast, warm in winter and 
cool in summer.” The more Miss Pitts thought of that 
spare room, and the more she thought of Andrew, the 
less satisfied she was. But she did not speak to any 
one of a plan that was rapidly forming itself in her 
mind : the plan to adopt Andrew. 

“ I won’t say a word until I’m sure of Eliza Pitts,” 
she resolved. “I’ve known her to change her mind 
more’n once in the course of twenty-four hours.” 

With the help of Fred Dwight and Len Jones the 
farm work went on satisfactorily. The shop where 
Phinny made baskets proved a very interesting place to 


70 ■ T’he Little Runaways 

the Watson twins, and one stormy day Phinny gave 
them a lesson in basket-making, greatly to their de- 
light. 

Phinny had told Fred about offering to show the 
flying-machine to the boys, and Fred had looked 
rather sober for a moment, but on hearing that Phinny 
had, after all, not taken the boys to the barn loft, 
where Fred passed most of his leisure time, Fred had 
declared that his friend was all right. 

“I suppose that’s why Matt Warren is always hang- 
ing about,” said Fred ; “ he’s as smiling as a basket of 
chips whenever I speak to him. Wants to see the air- 
ship.” 

“ Matt doesn’t waste any smiles on me,” said Phinny. 
“ He acts as if I were his worst enemy. He hasn’t done 
a single thing I’ve asked him to do since he came to 
Orchard Farm.” 

“ I’d stand for that about once,” declared Fred. 
“ Doesn’t he know whom he has to thank for being 
here ? ” 

“ I guess he doesn’t think it’s much to be thankful 
for,” replied Phinny. 

“ Humph,” grunted Fred, resolving to give “ that 
Matt ” a piece of his mind at the first opportunity. 

The opportunity came promptly, for, as Fred went 


At Orchard House 


7J 


up the ladder to the born loft, he heard a sudden ex- 
clamation and found Matt standing near the work- 
bench. 

Fred was very angry. During the spring term of 
school Fred had made a very clever model of an aero- 
plane. The boys of the school had formed an aeroplane 
club, each making small flying-machines, and they had 
all agreed that Fred’s air-ship was superior to any of 
the others. Fred had resolved that he would make a 
real flying-machine, one big enough to use, and Phinny 
had offered him the big loft of the Eastman barn for 
his workshop. No one, not even Phinny or Len, Fred’s 
best friends, had ventured up to the loft — and now 
here stood Matthew Warren. 

“That’s a dandy,” ventured Matt, pointing to the 
little model. 

Fred made no answer, but began looking over his 
tools very carefully. For a moment neither of the 
boys spoke, then Matt began, speaking very fast. 

“ Say ! ” he exclaimed. “ I know just what you 
think, that I’m an ‘asylum boy,’ and that it don’t 
matter how you treat me. I’m no account. I guess I 
know that all right. An asylum boy ” 

“ Oh, shut up ! ” exclaimed Fred angrily. “ What’s 
‘asylum’ got to do with it, anyway? You can’t get 


72 The Tittle Runaways 

out of being mean that way. Phin Burton’s an asylum 
boy too, or you wouldn’t be here now, and there isn’t 
a finer chap anywhere. What do you want up here, 
anyway ? ” 

Matt felt very uncomfortable, but he answered 
promptly, “ I wanted to see the air-ship.” 

“ Couldn’t wait until you were asked,” sneered Fred. 

“ I’d get asked, wouldn’t I ? ” responded Matt 
bitterly. 

“ Oh, get out of here,” and Fred started toward the 
younger boy. Matt stepped backward. He had been 
standing very near the opening in the floor, and his 
backward step sent him plunging down. As he felt 
himself going he gave a yell that reached the ears of 
Len and Phinny and sent them running toward the 
barn. Fred scrambled down the ladder, almost falling 
himself, and found Matt huddled up on the barn floor. 

“ I’m smashed up, I’m smashed up,” screamed Matt, 
as Fred bent over him. 

Fred tried to lift Matt up, but the boy’s screams 
frightened him and when Phinny and Len came run- 
ning into the barn, they found Fred, white and 
frightened, leaning over the injured boy. Len lifted 
Matt into a sitting position. “ Your head’s all right,” 
declared Len, running his hands firmly over Matt’s 


At Orchard House 


73 

head, neck and shoulders ; “ and so’s your back. Stand 
up.” 

“ I can’t,” whimpered Matt. 

“ I guess he’s right there ; this left ankle looks bad. 
Let’s see your arms.” 

“ Let go — o-ooh ! ” screamed Matt, and Len’s clasp on 
the boy’s left arm became more gentle. 

“I reckon his arm’s broken,” said Len soberly. 
“You’d better go after the doctor, Phin; Fred and 
I will carry him into the house. Don’t be a baby,” 
he added sharply, as Matt began to scream and cry ; 
“ there’s nothing very dangerous in a broken arm,” but 
Matt kept on, and his screams brought Miss Pitts run- 
ning across the yard closely followed by the twins. 
Andrew, Arthur and Nonny were spending the day 
with Mr. Goddard. 

“Put him right on my bed,” directed Miss Pitts; 
“ and now, Fred, you start up the kitchen fire and get 
me some hot water for that ankle. I guess it isn’t much 
of a sprain. Stop crying, Matthew. Every boy breaks 
an arm sooner or later. You ought to be glad that 
you’ve broken it amongst folks, not way off in some 
forest or desert.” 

Matt’s cries sank to whimpers, and as Len bathed 
the ankle, and Miss Pitts bolstered him comfortably 


74 


The Tittle Runaways 

in bed he gradually ceased to whimper, and when the 
doctor arrived he found Matt with a fair degree of 
courage, and the arm was set, put in splints and in a 
sling, without any great fuss. 

‘‘ How did it happen ? ” asked the doctor. 

“ Fred Dwight pushed me out of the barn loft ! ” 
Matt declared, and a moment later would have given 
anything to have denied the falsehood. 

“ Phew ! ” exclaimed the doctor. 

Phinny and Len looked at each other in amazement. 
But it did not occur to either of them that Matt was 
lying. In times past Fred had been very mean and 
unfair to Phinny, and although Fred had changed and 
seemed kind and friendly the boys knew that he had a 
quick temper and often acted impulsively. 

“ He didn’t mean to,” Phinny managed to say, half 
questioningly, and the doctor responded quickly : 

“ Of course he didn’t,” and with a few directions to 
Miss Pitts, and the promise to call the next day, said 
good-bye to his patient and departed. 

“ Where’s Fred ? ” Len asked. 

“ He’s gone home,” answered Phinny. 

It was decided to fix a cot in the sitting-room for 
Matt. Before night the swelling about his ankle had 
nearly disappeared ; he did not eat much supper, how- 


At Orchard House 


75 


ever, and lay on his cot, silent and looking very un- 
happy. Miss Pitts began to think that Matthew was 
really a better boy than she had realized. 

“ What about Fred ? ” Len asked Phinny, as the two 
friends walked across the field toward Mrs. Burton’s. 

“ I don’t believe he meant to push him out of the 
loft. Matt had no business up there anyway,” an- 
swered Phinny. 

“ Humph ! ” responded Len, thoughtfully. Len was 
wondering to himself why Fred had not said that he 
pushed Matt, instead of starting off for home the 
minute the doctor arrived. 


CHAPTEK YIII 


IN THE OECHARD 

“ You just take this cane, Matthew, and come out 
and sit in the orchard with me,” said Miss Pitts the 
morning after the accident. 

Matthew was dressed, had eaten an excellent break- 
fast, and was sitting near one of the front windows 
watching the other boys playing ball. 

“ I can’t walk,” he whined. 

“Well, I should like to know why not. You 
stepped across to that window without a mite of help, 
and your ankle looks all right. The doctor said he 
guessed it wouldn’t trouble you much.” 

“My arm’s broken,” pleaded Matt. For the first 
time in his life he found himself a person of impor- 
tance, and he was disposed to make the most of it. 

“ So it is. A good clean break, the doctor called it. 
But, land’s sake, Matthew, you don’t have to walk 
with your arm. I sent Andrew over to Mrs. Burton’s 
on purpose to get this cane for you. I’ve got a lot of 
stockings to darn for you boys, and I thought it would 
be real pleasant for you and me to sit in the orchard.” 

76 


At Orchard House 


77 


Matthew looked at her a little doubtfully, wonder- 
ing to himself why she wanted his company. But 
Matt had already learned that Miss Pitts was to be 
trusted, so with an effort, more apparent than real, 
he grasped the cane and hobbled after her out into the 
shady orchard. 

‘‘ There, I’ve got the big wooden rocker all ready for 
you,” said Miss Pitts, helping Matthew establish him- 
self in the comfortable cushioned chair. “ I^’ow you just 
place your feet on this chair,” and she carefully lifted 
Matt’s feet into another chair. “ How, ain’t that com- 
plete ? ” she asked, as she settled herself in a low chair 
beside him. 

“ I had Andrew fetch out this little table for my 
work,” she added, nodding toward a small table that 
stood between them, “ and you help yourself to those 
ginger cookies whenever you want to. Miss Goddard 
brought them over this morning.” 

Matthew began to think that breaking one’s arm was 
not so great a misfortune after all. To lay stretched 
out in the cushioned chairs with a plate of cookies 
within reach was comfortable ; and he did not object 
to having Miss Pitts beside him. The apple tree cast a 
pleasant shade, and he could hear the murmur of the 
brook not far away, and could see the Watson twins. 


78 'The Little Runaways 

Andrew and Arthur, playing ball. JS’onny was still at 
Mr. Goddard’s, and Matthew had heard Len Jones say 
that he believed the Goddards meant to adopt JSTonny. 

Matthew thought about this, as he watched the other 
boys, and his thoughts were not very happy ones, for 
he was envying the little ]ame boy the prospect of 
a home. “ Nobody ever wants me,” he thought sul- 
lenly, and looked up to meet Miss Pitts’ kind eyes. 

Just then there came a call from the house : ‘‘Miss 
Pitts ! Miss Pitts ! ” 

“ I’m right down in the orchard,” Miss Pitts called 
back, and a moment later they saw Cathie coming 
toward them. She carried a covered basket, and a 
book. 

“ Isn’t it lovely that Matthew can get out in the or- 
chard ? ” she exclaimed. “ Phinny sent you this book to 
read. Matt ; and Mother Burton said that it would be a 
good plan for you to have a little lunch about this time, 
and she sent you over this cup custard and jelly tart,” 
and Cathie opened the basket and set the things on the 
table where Matthew could easily reach them. 

“ I can read to you if you want me to,” Cathie offered, 
sitting on the grass at Miss Pitts’ feet. 

“ That will be complete, won’t it, Matthew ? ” said 
Miss Pitts. 



“what’s the book about?” 



At Orchard House 


79 

There was a little smile on Matt’s face. He nodded. 
“ What’s the book about ? ” he asked. 

“ It’s about meu who have invented things : steam- 
engines, balloons, all sorts of things,” replied Cathie. 

“ Go ahead ! ” commanded Matt, helping himself to 
the jelly tart. 

In the meadow Phinny, Leander, and Fred were 
loading the last of the meadow grass on the hay-rack. 
Fred had appeared at an earlier hour than usual that 
morning, and inquired anxiously after Matt. 

“ I’m mighty glad he didn’t break his neck,” Fred 
had responded, when told that a broken arm was Matt’s 
chief injury. “ I suppose he blames me,” Fred added, 
noticing that neither Len nor Phinny were very cordial 
to him. 

“ Yes, he does,” responded Len. 

“ I like that,” Fred said sharply. ‘‘ How was I to 
know that he’d be foolish enough to walk backward 
through that trap-door ? I was some scared, I can tell 
you, when I saw him vanish.” 

Phinny and Len exchanged a quick glance, and 
their manner toward Fred was instantly more 
friendly. 

“ Miss Pitts knows just how to take care of Matt,” 
Phineas said ; “ they are out in the orchard.” 


8o ‘The Tittle Runaways 

“ I’ll take a look at him when we get this load in,’’ 
responded Fred. “ I was pretty mad when I found Matt 
sneaking around in the loft ; but when I told him to 
get out I didn’t mean for him to go that way,” and Fred 
laughed a little, recalling his own terror at the sight of 
Matt’s form pitching down from the barn loft. 

“ How did it happen ? ” questioned Len. 

“ Didn’t Matt tell you ? Poor chap, I yelled at him 
to ‘ get out,’ and he gave a lurch backward,” said Fred. 
“ I’ll let him see the air-ship before he goes back to the 
asylum ; but he’d no business up there.” 

When the hay was taken care of Fred went down to 
the orchard. Len and Phinny watched him as he swung 
along across the field. 

“ What made Matt lay it on Fred ? ” said Phinny. 

Didn’t know what he was saying, I reckon,” Len 
answered. 

As Matthew listened to the story of Eobert Fulton 
and his steamboat, and nibbled at the ginger cookies, he 
began to think that a broken arm was not a very great 
misfortune after all. The younger boys, tired of play- 
ing ball, had joined the little group in the orchard, and 
were now sprawled out on the grass listening as eagerly 
as Matthew himself. Now and then Matthew amused 
himself by shying a ginger cooky to one or the other of 


At Orchard House 8i 

the boys, an attention that was received with appre- 
ciative grins. 

“ There conies Fred,” said Miss Pitts, as Cathie fin- 
ished the first chapter of the book, and laid it down on 
the little table. 

Matthew’s face clouded, and he made no response to 
Fred’s friendly greeting. 

‘‘ I’m mighty sorry about your arm. Matt. But what 
on earth made you step backward ? Didn’t you know 
that open place was right back of you ? ” 

Matt heard Miss Pitts’ half -uttered exclamation, and 
wished that he could hide his face and cry. He was 
sure that he had never been so unhappy before in all 
his life ; and he found himself saying over and over to 
himself, Miss Pitts will despise me. Miss Pitts will 
despise me.” 

“ I guess I’m to blame,” Fred continued. “ I yelled 
at you enough to make anybody jump. But as soon 
as you can climb that ladder. Matt, you may come up 
and I’ll show you just how an air-ship is made.” And 
with a friendly nod, Fred said good-bye and returned 
to his work. 

Matt did not look up. He knew Cathie had started 
for home, and that the other boys had run off toward 
the brook. And he knew that he should never dare 


82 T’he Little Runaways 

look at Miss Pitts again. “And she was beginning 
to like me; I know she was,” thought the unhappy 
boy. 

Two big tears went rolling down Matt’s cheeks, and 
he did not even know it. And then a wonderful thing 
happened. Matthew felt a kind hand smoothing his 
hair, and heard Miss Pitts saying : “ There, there, my 
dear boy ; you didn’t know what you were saying when 
you told the doctor that Fred pushed you. There’s the 
doctor coming to see you now. He’s got boys about 
your age, and he’s a real kind man. You tell him all 
about it. I’ll be back soon,” and Miss Pitts went to 
meet the doctor. 

Matthew Warren never forgot that morning in the 
orchard, nor the talk with the grave, serious-eyed 
physician. 

“ You’ll be all right, Matthew,” the doctor assured 
him, at the end of an hour’s visit ; and the boy realized 
that the doctor meant not only his broken arm, but 
right in the sense of being honorable and truthful. 

As Matthew watched the doctor’s tall figure cross 
the yard the boy vowed to himself that he would be 
honest. “ I won’t lie ! I won’t ! ” he declared. 

Matthew was left to himself until dinner time and 
then Andrew and Arthur appeared to escort him back 


At Orchard House 


83 

to the house. The boys were all eager to help Matt 
to set his chair at the table, to cut his meat and spread 
his bread. Miss Pitts smiled kindly upon him, and 
Matthew made many resolves to himself. 

After dinner he went back to his seat in the orchard. 
Andrew Hill went with him, and the two boys looked 
over the book Cathie had been reading. Matthew ex- 
plained the story to the younger boy, and, for the first 
time, Andrew began to have a friendly feeling toward 
Matt. While the two boys were talking over the book 
they heard voices, and looked up to see Phinny and 
two young men coming toward them. 

“ These are my friends Mr. Roy Harper and Harry 
Harper; and this is Matthew Warren and Andrew 
Hill,” said Phineas. 

Roy at once made friends with Andrew, while 
Phinny and Harry talked with Matthew. Matt was 
very quiet and humble ; he listened to the others, but 
said very little himself. All at once he began to won- 
der. “ Phinny acts as if he was just as good as those 
young men,” he thought. “And he used to be an 
asylum boy.” And then he recalled Fred’s scornful 
exclamation of “ What’s the asylum got to do with it, 
anyway?” Hew ideas were coming very rapidly to 
Matthew. A new world was opening all around him. 


84 "The L,ittle Runaways 

It was as Miss Pitts said : he needed help to understand 
himself. 

“ You must come over and see our farm before you 
return to Boston,” Koy said, as he bade Matt good-bye, 
and Phineas promised that he would drive Matt over. 

Matthew watched the boys, as he had earlier watched 
the doctor. But he was not thinking about them or 
about visiting their farm. He was thinking about 
Phinny. “He’s an asylum boy, but everybody likes 
him ; and he’s hiring boys older than he is to work for 
him, and he’s helping us fellows.” Matthew began to 
feel ashamed. “ I haven’t helped a bit, not as much 
as Honny. And now I’ve broken my arm and I can’t 
help.” 

Unconsciously Matt had spoken aloud; he had not 
seen Miss Pitts approaching and when he heard her 
say, “ Now, Matthew dear, don’t you worry ; you’re 
going to help as soon as you can,” he gave a little jump 
of surprise. 

“ ‘ Matthew dear,’ ” he repeated to himself. Then he 
turned his face and hid it on the cushioned back of the 
old wooden rocker and began to cry. 

Miss Pitts picked up her work-basket and sat down 
beside him. 


CHAPTEE IX 


MATTS OWNS UP 

Matt’s ankle continued to trouble him for several 
days, and it was about all he could do to hobble down 
to his pleasant seat in the orchard. 

“ Too bad you’re missing all the good times the other 
boys are having,” Fred Dwight said to him, stopping 
on his way to the lower field. 

Matt did not reply ; he was turning over the pages 
of the book Phinny had lent him, and in which he was 
greatly interested. 

‘‘ I say,” continued Fred, who stood leaning on his 
hoe, “ I’m mighty sorry I yelled out at you the way I 
did. You wouldn’t have got that tumble if I’d been 
civil.” 

Matt looked up in surprise. It seemed to the boy 
that his fall from the barn loft had turned the world 
over for him. Everybody was kind to him. The 
boys, Mrs. Burton, the neighbors, and here was Fred 
Dwight saying that he was sorry for having spoken 
sharply. 


35 


86 "The L,ittle Runaways 

“ I’ve been thinking of something that perhaps will 
help you pass the time,” continued Fred. “ Has Phinny 
Burton told you about our Aeroplane Club ? ” 

Matt shook his head. Fred told him how the older 
boys of the village school had each made an air-ship, 
and then had races to see which model would go the 
best. “ And my model won,” Fred concluded ; “ it’s 
the one you saw in the loft, and I thought perhaps 
you’d like to look it over and see it fly.” 

“ Sure,” exclaimed Matt. 

“ I’ll fetch it right down,” said Fred, dropping his 
hoe and running off toward the barn. He was soon 
back again, and Matt listened eagerly as Fred ex- 
plained how the little air-ship was made. Then he 
gave it a toss into the air, and the little craft sailed off 
for a short flight, and sank gracefully down nearly at 
the feet of Miss Pitts, who was coming down to bring 
Matthew a glass of milk. 

‘‘ That’s real clever of you, Fred,” she said admir- 
ingly. 

Fred brought the tiny air-ship back and rested it on 
the table beside Matthew. 

“ I wish I could make one,” Matt exclaimed. 

“ Go ahead and try ; I’ll help you.” 

“ With a broken arm ? ” responded Matt. 


At Orchard House 


87 

“ Not so easy as if you had two good hands, but you 
could do it. Think it over,” and picking up his hoe 
Fred started off. 

“ Fred talks just right,” declared Miss Pitts. “ Two 
hands are better than one, but if it so happens that one 
hand is all you have, why, use it the best you can. I 
guess I should be proud enough if you made an air-ship, 
Matthew.” 

“ Of me ? ” the boy questioned, as if surprised. 

“ Of course,” answered Miss Pitts. 

There was a little silence, and then Matt spoke. 
“ What’s the use of my trying ? By the time I got it 
finished, if I ever did finish it, Pd have to go back to 
the asylum. They don’t want anything of that kind 
at the asylum.” 

It was the old sulky Matt again, but Miss Pitts 
looked at him more kindly than ever. 

“ Now, Matthew, I wish you’d try just to please me. 
To-morrow you and I will walk across the field to Mrs. 
Burton’s, and Phinny will let you use his work-bench, 
and get you things to work with, and you can go over 
every day. And as for going back to the asylum, 
Phinny says he plans to have you stay till your arm is 
well, and that’ll be a good month longer.” 

Matt’s face brightened. He straightened himself 


88 The hiittle Runaways 

from his lounging position, and looked at Miss Pitts 
hopefully. “ I guess I could go as far as Mrs. Burton’s 
to-day,” he said. 

“ I shouldn’t be a bit surprised if you could,” Miss 
Pitts assured him, and Matt was out of the chair in a 
moment, cane in hand, eager to start. 

Phinny was at home, busy sorting out baskets for 
which he had received an order, and was enthusiastic 
over the idea of Matt’s beginning work on an aero- 
plane. 

“ It’s fine of you to want to do it, Matt,” he declared 
admiringly. “ Mr. Goddard says a ‘ handicap ’ is one 
of the best things for a boy to have to make him 
succeed.” 

“ What’s a handicap ? ” asked Matt. 

“Well, I guess a broken arm is a handicap in your 
case,” said Phinny. 

“ I see,” said Matt soberly. 

While the two boys were in the shed, Miss Pitts and 
Mrs. Burton were chatting pleasantly on the side porch. 

“ Where’s Cathie ? ” questioned Miss Pitts. 

“ She’s gone over to spend the day with Miss Elvira 
Parker,” replied Mrs. Burton. 

“ I suppose Miss Parker keeps that fine doll in her 
sitting-room just as usual, doesn’t she ? ” said Miss Pitts. 


At Orchard House 89 

“ Cathie always thinks a good deal of spending a day at 
the Parkers’.” 

Miss Parker had a fine wax doll, “ Miss Patricia,” 
which was the admiration of all the small girls of the 
neighborhood. It was named “Miss Patricia,” and 
had the seat of honor in Miss Parker’s sitting-room. 

“ Yes, indeed,” replied Mrs. Burton. “ I’m ’most sur- 
prised, Eliza, that Miss Parker and her brother don’t 
find some nice boy or girl to bring up.” 

“ Land ! Martha, you seem to think that the chief 
duty of folks is to bring up children. I don’t doubt 
you’d be real pleased if you knew that I was going to 
take the care and trouble onto my shoulders of bring- 
ing up one of these boys of Phinny’s.” 

“E’o, indeed, Eliza! I well recall the time when 
my Phinny needed a home, before I knew that he was 
a Higgins, and what you said at that time. And it 
was true, every word of it. Ho, Eliza, I don’t expect 
you to fetch up a boy ; though I will say that you’ve 
been a perfect wonder with all those asylum boys. 
Phinny says that Andrew and the twins think the 
world of you.” 

“Martha,” Miss Pitts’ voice was more firm than 
usual, “I’m thinking very seriously of adopting a 
boy. Don’t you ask me a question, or say a word 


90 


T’he Little Runaways 

about it, for like as not I may change my mind. I 
ain’t going to talk about it, so I’ll step right home 
now,” and before her surprised friend could speak 
Miss Pitts was down the steps and well started toward 
Orchard House. 

Mrs. Burton looked after her friend, and nodded 
approvingly. 

“ I can see through a barn door as well as the next 
one,” she declared, “ and Eliza won’t make any mis- 
take in adopting Andrew Hill. He’s real pleasant 
spoken, and willing to take right hold wherever he 
sees a chance to help.” 

For Mrs. Burton had no doubt that it was Andrew 
whom Miss Pitts meant to adopt. From the day of 
the arrival of the asylum boys at Orchard House, Miss 
Pitts had shown a great liking for the quiet, serious- 
eyed Andrew, and as Mrs. Burton thought the matter 
over she was quite sure that Miss Pitts was making a 
wise selection. She could hear Phinny and Matt in 
the shed, and at the sound of Matt’s laugh she gave a 
sudden exclamation. 

“ I declare ! That’s the first time I’ve heard that 
boy laugh,” she said to herself. “He’s been sulky 
enough ever since he came to Orchard House ; seemed 
to blame all of us for something or other. But since 


At Orchard House 


9 ‘ 

he fell out of the loft he’s been different. It’s hard to 
know what is best for some boys.” 

Matt was surprised to find how much he could 
accomplish with one hand. He had sandpapered and 
polished three slender strips of lath for the frame to 
the aeroplane, and listened eagerly to Phinny’s ex- 
planation of how the motor was made. 

At the end of the afternoon Fred Dwight came in to 
the workroom. 

“ I’ll walk across the field with you, Matt,” he said 
pleasantly, and wondered at the quick flush that came 
over Matthew’s face. “ I guess Matt blames me for 
his tumble,” Fred thought to himself. 

“ Say, Matt,” Fred began, when the two boys had 
nearly reached Orchard House, “ I reckon you blame 
me for that tumble ; and I know I was mighty mean, 
and I’m sorry enough, I can tell you.” 

Matt stopped short. The fact that he had said that 
Fred had pushed him from the barn loft had been a 
shadow from which he could not escape. He had told 
the truth to the doctor and Miss Pitts, and he knew 
that they expected him to tell Fred ; but Matt had re- 
solved to himself that he never would tell Fred, or 
confess to Len and Phineas. But now, almost before 
he realized what he was doing, he exclaimed : 


92 "The L,ittle Runaways 

“ You’ve nothing to be sorry about. When the 
doctor asked how it happened I said : ‘ Fred Dwight 
pushed me out of the loft.’ ” 

Matt expected some exclamation of surprise or scorn 
from Fred, but no word came. 

“ Come on,” Fred said, after a moment’s silence, and 
the boys walked on. 

“ I’ve told Miss Pitts that it’s not true,” Matt con- 
tinued, and I told the doctor, too.” 

“Say! You didn’t?” exclaimed Fred, with a 
beaming face. “ That’s great. Matt ! I don’t wonder 
you thought I pushed you.” 

“ I didn’t think you pushed me,” persisted Matt. 
“ I tell you I lied ; and I haven’t told Phineas or Len 
yet; but I will.” 

“ They know all about how it happened ; I told 
them,” said Fred. 

“ All the more reason for me to own up,” said Matt. 

“Matt,” and Fred’s voice sounded very serious, 
“you just forget about that barn loft. You’ve proved 
yourself to be a good chap in owning up. You are all 
right,” and Fred rested a friendly hand on Matt’s 
shoulder. 

Miss Pitts was at the door and saw the two boys as 
they said good-night. 


At Orchard House 


93 

“ I’ve told Fred,” said Matt, as he hobbled into the 
house. 

Miss Pitts smiled approvingly. 

“ I knew you would, Matthew ; you’re a real good 
boy,” she responded. 

“I guess I could be if I lived with you,” replied 
Matt ; “ nobody else ever treated me the way you do. 
I’d do anything for you.” 

If Miss Pitts did not reply, beyond patting Matt’s 
shoulder, it was because she could not trust her voice 
to speak. But it was Andrew Hill who received the 
most generous piece of blueberry cake at supper ; and 
it was Andrew whom she asked to walk to the village 
with her that evening. 


CHAPTEE X 


MISS PITTS SURPRISES MATT 

“Well, Phineas, I don’t seem to have much of a 
family this morning,” said Miss Pitts, as Phineas ap- 
peared at the kitchen door of Orchard House with a 
basket of new potatoes. 

“ There’s only ten days more in August,” she con- 
tinued, “and the Watson twins are visiting at the 
Parkers’ for three days more; Honny Sykes seems 
to feel as if he was wasting his time if he wasn’t 
at the Goddards’ every minute, and Matt lives over 
in your workshop when he isn’t tagging Len and 
Fred about. If it wasn’t for Andrew and Arthur I 
could go right home for all the use I am to those 
^ boys.” 

“ That isn’t the way Matt feels,” responded Phineas 
laughingly ; “he thinks the sun would stop shining if 
he couldn’t see you every day.” 

“Land, Phineas; Matthew mus’n’t feel that way,” 
declared Miss Pitts in a troubled voice. 

“ Oh, he understands that Andrew is your favorite,” 
94 


At Orchard House 


95 


replied Phinnj, “ but I guess Matt has an idea that he 
ought to have had a mother like you. The asylum 
superintendent wrote me that Matt’s tumble was very 
unlucky, for there was a man in Vermont willing to 
have Matt on trial.” 

“ Dear me ! dear me ! ” Miss Pitts’ voice sounded as 
if she hardly knew what to say. 

“ The Harpers want Arthur Joyce to come over to 
their place this afternoon and stay until to-morrow, so 
you’ll only have Andrew and Matt to-night,” said 
Phinny. 

“That’s complete,” responded Miss Pitts. “Matt 
tells me that you and Len are going to surprise the 
other boys next week.” 

“ Matt’s in it, too,” said Phinny. “ You never saw 
such a clever fellow as Matt is. He does more with 
that one hand than I ever believed he could do with 
both hands. And when Len planned for an Archery 
Club, Matt said he could make the arrows ; and he has. 
They’re beauties, too,” concluded Phineas enthusiastic- 
ally. 

“ Like as not he was fixing feathers last night for 
those very arrows,” suggested Miss Pitts ; “he had a 
lot of turkey feathers and some little pieces of lead 
that he was at work with all last evening.” 


96 "The Tittle Runaways 

“ That’s it,” agreed Phinny ; “ the bit of lead for the 
head of the arrow will give it steadiness,” he explained. 
“ Len and Fred made the bows, but the arrows are a 
lot more important. When the boys get home from 
their visits the bows and arrows will be all ready for 
them. We’re going to put up a mark in the orchard 
for them to practice shooting at.” 

‘‘ Well, I must be stepping about my work, Phineas ; 
I want to make a dish of cream-toast for supper. 
Andrew thinks a good deal of cream-toast.” And 
Miss Pitts turned back to the kitchen, and Phinny 
started toward home. 

Cathie came running to meet him. “ Phinny ! ” she 
exclaimed, “ I do believe Miss Parker intends to adopt 
the twins. Honest, I do. The day I visited there she 
and Mr. Parker were saying that they never should 
think of adopting one boy.” 

“ I don’t think that’s very hopeful,” said Phinny ; 
^ if they wouldn’t think of adopting one boy it isn’t at 
all likely they’d take two.” 

“ You wait and see, Phinny Burton ! When I told 
Mr. Parker that Charles and Chester had never seen 
any hens until they came to Orchard House, and that 
they’d each gained four pounds, he and Miss Parker 
nodded to each other as pleased as could be.” 


At Orchard House 


97 


“ Four pounds is a good deal for a hen to gain in a 
couple of weeks,” Phinny responded teasingly, but see- 
ing Cathie’s serious face he added soberly, “No, 
Cathie, I guess we’ll have to make up our minds that 
all the boys will have to go back to the asylum, except 
Nonny and Andrew.” 

“ And Matt ; he’ll stay till his arm is all right,” 
Cathie reminded him. But Phinny looked at her and 
shook his head. 

“ I haven’t told you about Matt,” he said, “ and I 
hate to tell him. I know he’s counting on another 
month here ; but the superintendent thinks Matt 
had better return on the day the other boys go 
back.” 

“ Well, Phinny, I think it’s a shame for any one of 
them to go back. There’s plenty of people all around 
Skillings Village who could adopt a boy just as well as 
not,” declared Cathie. “ J ust see how easy it was for 
you and me.” 

“ That sounds like old times,” responded Phinny, 
for it was Cathie who, on her arrival at Mrs. Burton’s 
four years ago, had implored every one who spoke to 
her to give Phinny a home. 

“ I’ve got a plan, Phinny,” the little girl said, as the 
boy turned toward the barn, “ and every single one of 


98 The Tittle Runaways 

those boys is going to have a truly home right here in 
this town.” 

“ Even Matt ? ” questioned Phinny. 

“I’m not sure about Matt,” replied Cathie very 
soberly. 

Matt was in Phinny’s workroom. He had been 
sandpapering arrows and thinking happily that he 
would be at Orchard House, or perhaps in the village 
with Miss Pitts, for another month. Cathie and Phin- 
eas had stopped at the corner of the shed and Matt 
had heard their conversation : that he was to return to 
the asylum at the time agreed on, and Cathie’s remark 
that she intended to find homes for all the boys, but 
was “ not sure about Matt.” He lost all interest in his 
arrows, and started for home. So she was “ not sure 
about Matt.” 

It was a sober-faced boy who limped back to Or- 
chard House. Matt sat down on the door-step, and 
looked far across the fields to the distant line of tall 
pines. 

All the other boys were to have “ truly homes,” he 
thought. He could hear Miss Pitts and Andrew talk- 
ing together. 

“ She likes Andrew ; she’s going to adopt him, I know 
she is,” thought Matt. Two big tears rolled down 


At Orchard House 


99 


Matt’s cheeks, and when Miss Pitts came to call him to 
his supper she was quick to see that Matthew was in 
trouble. 

“ Like as not his arm’s hurting him ; when the bone 
begins to knit it begins to ache, generally speaking,” 
she thought, selecting the tenderest bits of cold chicken 
for Matt’s plate, and turning a generous portion of 
sugar and the thick rich cream over his dish of fresh 
raspberries. 

“ I’ll wash the dishes ; may I, Miss Pitts ? ” Andrew 
asked eagerly, as if he were requesting a great privi- 
lege, “and may I go over to Len Jones’s after the 
milk?” * 

“ I’ll be real pleased to have you, Andrew,” replied 
Miss Pitts. “ I’m going to set out on the steps a spell 
with Matthew.” 

Matt did not look up ; he was thinking that Miss 
Pitts was probably going to tell him that she meant to 
adopt Andrew. 

“ Matthew,” Miss Pitts began, “ I’m going to ask you 
a real serious question, and I don’t want you to answer 
it until you think it over. You can tell me next week 
what you decide on. First of all : I want to ask you 
what you think about Phineas Burton. You can tell 
me that right now.” 


loo ’The Tittle Runaways 

“ Think he’s fine,” responded Matt. “ It’s great, 
what he’s done for this crowd.” 

“ Well, I’m real glad, I’m sure, because if I adopt 
you I shall expect you to sort of pattern after Phineas ; 
that is as near as you can,” said Miss Pitts. 

“ Adopt me ? ” Matt was quite sure that he had not 
understood Miss Pitts correctly ; or, if he had, that she 
did not mean what she said. 

“ Yes, Matthew ; that’s the question I want you to 
think over,” replied Miss Pitts. “ You see, I haven’t 
much in the way of a house, and no land. I live over 
my millinery shop ; there’s just five rooms. They’re 
real comfortable rooms. The back yard is a good- 
sized yard and I’ve an excellent shed. You’d have to 
manage to earn your clothes.” 

Miss Pitts’ voice was almost apologetic as she turned 
toward him. ‘‘ I realize it ain’t much to offer, Mat- 
thew, but I do despise to think of you going back to the 
asylum. But I shan’t blame you a single bit if you’d 
rather go and take chances of finding a better home.” 

‘‘ Don’t want no better home,” muttered Matt, who 
hardly dared trust himself to speak. He wanted to 
jump about, and wave his arms, and shout. But he did 
none of those things. He sat very quiet, digging the 
cane into the grass beside the step. 


At Orchard House 


lOl 


“ You can think it over and tell me next week,” con- 
cluded Miss Pitts, starting to go indoors. 

Matt clutched at her skirt. “ Wait a minute,” he 
pleaded. “ Do you truly want me ? I thought you 
liked Andrew best ? ” 

Miss Pitts sat down again, but the boy’s grasp on her 
dress did not loosen. 

“ I’d rather adopt you, Matthew, than any boy I 
know,” Miss Pitts replied. 

Matt let go of the gingham dress and his arm went 
up across his eyes. 

“ There, there ! If you don’t want to be adopted by 
an old maid and live over a shop and earn your own 
clothes, I don’t blame you, Matthew, not a single little 
bit. 

“ JS’ow, don’t you feel bad ; I just spoke of it,” and 
Miss Pitts patted Matthew’s shoulder sympathetic- 
ally. 

“ I don’t feel bad ; I’m glad,” Matt said. “ I’d rather 
be your boy than anybody’s. I — I — I like you. Miss 
Pitts.” 

“ Well, that’s complete. Here comes Andrew with 
the milk. You can talk it over with Phineas. That 
is, if you’re real sure that you want to stay with me,” 
responded Miss Pitts. 


102 'The Tittle Runaways 

Matt’s arm came down from his face ; his radiant, 
happy eyes turned toward her. 

“ Just as sure as sure,” he replied. “ Do you want 
folks to know about it ? ” 

“Yes, indeed,” she answered; “I’ll be real proud. 
But maybe ’twill be best for me to write the asylum 
folks first.” 

“ Humph ! They’ll be glad to see the last of me,” 
Matt assured her. 

Andrew came up the path bringing the milk very 
carefully. 

“ I like Len Jones,” he announced soberly, as Miss 
Pitts followed him into the kitchen, “ and I like his 
mother, too,” Andrew added. “I think she must be 
very fond of boys.” 

“ Of course she is,” agreed Miss Pitts, smiling down 
at the serious-faced little boy, and thinking to herself 
that probably Matt would be a much more troublesome 
boy to bring up than Andrew. “ And I guess that’s 
the reason I decided to take Matt,” thought Miss Pitts. 
“ Matt certainly needs somebody to be patient, and I’ve 
earned patience, being a milliner in this town for thirty 
years.”. 

As the dusk of the summer evening deepened, and 
the stars came out. Matt sat on the door-step quiet and 


At Orchard House 103 

alone. He was thinking that he was the luckiest boy 
in the world, and Matthew made many good resolves 
for the future, when he should really be in a “ truly ” 
home. 


CHAPTEKXI 


AT THE HAEPEES’ 

Helen and Margaret Harper stood near the stable 
watching their brother Harry showing Arthur J oyce 
how to ride horseback. “ Dandy,” Harry’s own saddle 
horse, seemed to enjoy it as much as Arthur did ; and 
Arthur had never had such a happy morning. 

“ Harry says I can tell you about Mabel Gates, if 
you want to know,” Margaret said. 

“ About Mabel ? Oh, yes,” Helen responded, “ about 
her going away. Do you know, Margaret,” and Helen 
laughed, as if amused at her own forgetfulness, ‘‘ I 
had nearly forgotten about her going off so suddenly. 
What did you say to her ? ” 

“ Well,” and Margaret hesitated a moment, and then 
said, “ I told her the truth : that we all thought she 
wasn’t polite to Cathie ; and then she said she didn’t 
expect to be invited to meet asylum girls, and then I 
told her she’d better go home ; and she got right up and 
packed her trunk.” 

“ But you said it was Harry’s plan ? ” questioned 
Helen. 

104 


At Orchard House 105 

Margaret nodded. “Yes, Harry said he’d be as 
polite as he could be to her, if I’d just tell her the truth. 
Harry said somebody ought to tell her, so I did. And 
then Mabel was mad about it.” 

“ It was all my fault ; I ought not to have asked her 
to visit me,” responded Helen ; “ but what made her so 
civil to Cathie when she said good-bye ? ” 

“ Just showing off,” declared Margaret. “ I don’t 
think it was your fault at all, Helen. Mabel looks all 
right.” 

“Well, I don’t think Cathie realized how horrid 
Mabel was,” Helen said. 

“ Do you think I ought to tell mother ? ” Margaret 
asked. 

The two sisters looked at each other for a moment, 
and Helen nodded soberly. 

“ I suppose I must,” agreed Margaret, with a sigh, 
“ but you know mother won’t like it at all.” 

“ I guess you or Harry had better tell her,” Helen 
said slowly. And a little later, when Arthur Joyce 
had ridden Dandy down to the main road and back, 
and had then led the horse down to the pasture, Mar- 
garet and her brother went in search of Mrs. Harper. 

Helen took up a book from the little table on the 
porch and tried to read, but she could not fix her 


io6 The Tittle Runaways 

thoughts on reading. She did not see Margaret until 
dinner, when in response to Helen’s questioning look 
the younger girl said, “ Mother’s a perfect dear. She 
always says the right thing.” 

“ Of course,” responded Helen, “ but neither you nor 
Harry looks very happy.” 

“Of course not, after what mother said,” replied 
Margaret, and Helen made no further inquiries. 

The Harpers all liked Arthur Joyce, and to the lit- 
tle boy the Harper farm seemed the most beautiful 
place he had ever seen. Koy had told Phineas to bring 
the other boys over the next evening to look at the stars 
through the big telescope, and so it was decided that 
Arthur should remain until that time. 

“ I’d like to have Arthur stay right along,” Harry 
Harper told his sisters. “ I wish father would ask the 
little fellow to stay all winter. Wouldn’t he have a 
good time when the snow came, and when Koy began 
to haul wood ? ” 

If Cathie could have heard Harry she would have felt 
greatly encouraged, for in her plan to find homes for 
Phinny’s guests she had decided that the Harper farm 
would be a splendid place for one of the boys. 

Mrs. Burton, Miss Pitts and Cathie stood at the gate 
and watched the boys start for the Harper farm. Len 


At Orchard House 


107 

had harnessed Old Whitey into the hay wagon, and 
with its half -load of hay it made a very comfortable con- 
veyance. Nonny Sykes sat on one side of Phinny and 
Matt on the other ; while Andrew Hill and Fred Dwight, 
who had been included in the invitation, had the other 
side to themselves. Len sat in front to drive. 

“ They’ll have a splendid time,” declared Mrs. Burton 
waving her apron in response to the gay calls from the 
hay wagon. 

“ I hope the Parkers started in good season, or the 
twins won’t get there in time for supper ; their horse is 
so slow,” said Cathie. 

“ Washington will see to it that Charles and Chester 
are in time,” responded Miss Pitts, and, having watched 
the wagon over the brow of the hill, they walked back 
to Mrs. Burton’s, where Miss Pitts was to stay until the 
boys returned in the late evening. 

“ This seems to be a boy’s summer, doesn’t it, Cathie ? ” 
Miss Pitts said as they sat down to their supper. “ But 
I guess you’ve had a real good time. It must have 
been real pleasant for you to get acquainted with that 
pretty girl from Boston who visited Helen.” 

“ Mabel Gates,” Cathie responded slowly. “ I guess I 
didn’t get acquainted with her. She got homesick and 
stai’ted for home.” 


io8 "The hit tie Runaways 

“ Phinny says that next summer, if Cathie wants to, 
she may ask six girls from the asylum to Orchard 
House,” said Mrs. Burton. 

“ Yes, and keep house for them myself,” declared 
Cathie eagerly. ‘‘ Helen Harper has promised to help 
me.” 

“ That will be complete,” declared Miss Pitts, “ be- 
cause next year I expect I shall be busy,” and she 
nodded smilingly, thinking of Matthew’s needing her 
undivided attention. 

“ But Matt is to work for Phinny as soon as school 
closes,” said Cathie. “ I heard them talking about it 
this morning.” 

Cathie washed the dishes and put the kitchen in 
order while Mrs. Burton and Miss Pitts chatted to- 
gether on the side porch. They talked over the time 
when Cathie, a little runaway from the Boston asylum, 
had come walking down the dusty hill to find a home 
with Mrs. Burton. 

“ Do you recall, Eliza, how anxious she was to have 
somebody adopt Phinny? She seemed willing to go 
back herself if she could find a home for him,” said 
Mrs. Burton. 

“ ’Twas real lucky for you, Martha, having chil- 
dren like Cathie and Phineas come walking right 


At Orchard House 


109 

into your front door, so to speak,” responded Miss 
Pitts. 

“ It was the back door,” corrected Mrs. Burton. ‘‘ I 
recall that I had my leach barrel in the back yard and 
was making soap the morning Cathie came. And it’s 
just as you say, Eliza ; they are both remarkable chil- 
dren.” 

Miss Pitts had not said that Cathie and Phineas 
were remarkable, but she was quite ready to agree to 
it, nevertheless. 

“We all thought you liked Andrew the best of any 
of the boys,” continued Mrs. Burton, “ and Matt, who 
made trouble before he had eaten his first dinner, and 

has kept on making it ever since Well, Eliza, all 

I can say is that I think you’ve got considerable 
courage.” 

“ The way I look at it,” responded Miss Pitts slowly, 
plaiting her white apron in even folds, “is that Matthew 
needed somebody like me a sight more than any of the 
other boys. 

“ You see, in the first place he’s older, nearly thir- 
teen, and I could see plain enough that he was getting 
right down ugly just on account of nobody in particu- 
lar caring about him. As I view it his tumble out of 
the barn loft did Matthew good. He began to get 


no 'The Juittle Runaways 

special attention then, and he needed it, more ways 
than one.” 

After Cathie had finished her work she went across 
the field for a little visit with Len’s mother. Mrs. J ones 
was slightly deaf, so Cathie always tried to speak very 
distinctly, and Mrs. Jones always enjoyed a visit from 
the little girl. 

Cathie told Mrs. Jones the wonderful news about 
Matthew Warren. 

“ Len is most grown up, isn’t he, Mrs. Jones ? ” she 
added. 

“ Land, I should hope so,” replied Mrs. Jones ; “ he’s 
a good inch taller than his father.” 

‘‘ And he’s going to college next year,” added Cathie. 
“You’ll be real lonesome here then, won’t you, Mrs. 
Jones?” 

“ I ain’t one of the lonesome kind ; I keep too busy,” 
Mrs. Jones replied briskly. This was rather discour- 
aging to Cathie, but she kept bravely on, for the sake 
of Andrew. 

“ Mother Burton and I were real surprised that Miss 
Pitts didn’t want to take Andrew Hill. Andrew’s so 
pleasant and quiet.” 

“ He’s most too quiet,” responded Mrs. Jones pleas- 
antly. “Why, when he comes over after milk he’ll 


At Orchard House ni 

stand around waiting for ten minutes rather than call 
me.” 

“Don’t you like quiet boys?” Cathie asked. “I 
thought most grown people did.” 

“I can’t say as I do,” replied Mrs. Jones. “Maybe 
it’s because I’m a little slow of hearing, but if there’s a 
boy around I like to know it.” 

Cathie resolved to have a little talk with Andrew the 
next morning. If a noisy boy was what Mrs. Jones 
liked then, Cathie determined, Andrew should be 
taught to be noisy. For Cathie had decided that Len 
Jones would make an excellent big brother for little 
Andrew. 

“ I must be going home now,” Cathie said a few min- 
utes later, and walked slowly toward Mrs. Burton’s, 
her mind full of plans by which these asylum boys 
could secure homes. 

She sat down on the lowest porch step beside Mrs. 
Burton. 

“ Nonny Sykes has finished his visit with the 
Goddards, hasn’t he ? ” asked Mrs. Burton. 

“Yes; Nonny’U be right at Orchard House from 
now on until September first,” replied Miss Pitts. “ I 
expect it’s going to be real hard for Nonny to go 
back.” 


112 ‘The Tittle Runaways 

“ Phinny doesn’t plan to have Nonny go back,” 
Cathie said earnestly ; “ and, oh. Miss Pitts, isn’t Mr. 
Goddard going to keep JSTonny ? ” 

“Not that I’ve heard of,” replied Miss Pitts with 
decision. 

“Oh, dear!” exclaimed Cathie. It seemed to the 
little girl that all her plans were doomed to failure. 
Mrs. Jones liked noisy boys, and Andrew was quiet ; 
Nonny, whom the minister had seemed to like so much, 
was now to return to Orchard House ; “ and I suppose 
the Parkers won’t want the twins, or the Harpers 
won’t want Arthur,” she exclaimed. 

“ My soul, Cathie ! ” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, “ you 
can’t expect everybody in Skillings Village to adopt a 
boy.” 

“ I don’t see why not,” declared Cathie. “ If you 
could adopt Phinny and me, I should think other people 
could adopt one boy.” 

That’s just what I say,” declared Miss Pitts ; but 
Cathie began to feel that the outlook was not as hope- 
ful as she had expected. 

While Cathie and her friends made plans for their 
future the asylum boys were fast approaching the 
Harper farm. As Len turned Whitey into the drive- 
way Nonny called out : “ Look I Look I ” and in a 


At Orchard House 


‘>3 


moment there was a chorus of delighted shouts, for 
glimmering and shining through the dusk shone, from 
the branches of the trees, from the roof of the piazza 
and over the door, lights from many colored Japanese 
lanterns. None of the boys had ever seen anything so 
pretty. 

Arthur Joyce came running to meet the hay wagon 
and climbed in beside Andrew and Fred. “ Say, isn’t 
it great here ? ” he demanded. 

Mrs. Harper had asked the boys to supper, and the 
little feast was spread on a table on the broad piazza. 
Mr. Parker and the Watson twins had not yet arrived, 
and after waiting a little time for them, Mrs. Harper 
said that the others had better begin. “ Mr. Parker 
and the boys can have their supper when they come,” 
she said. 

Koy Harper presided at the head of the table, and 
Harry, Helen and Margaret waited on their guests. 
How good the cold chicken salad, the hot rolls and cocoa 
tasted ; and then the delicious ice-cream and sponge 
cake. And to eat out-of-doors, looking across the fra- 
grant garden lit by swinging Japanese lanterns ! It 
was all very wonderful to the boys from the city asylum. 
Phinny kept watching the driveway, hoping to see Mr. 
Parker’s black horse. 


114 Ljittle Runaways 

But the supper was finished and still the Watson 
twins had not arrived. Koy Harper said it would be 
a good time for a song, and led the way into the big 
living-room and sat down at the piano. He and Harry 
sang a number of college songs, greatly to the boys’ 
delight, and had just finished when there was the sound 
of steps on the piazza, and a little boy, bareheaded and 
dusty, limped into the room, and stood looking at them 
as if too frightened to speak. 

“What is it, Chester? What’s happened?” ex- 
claimed Phineas, starting toward the boy. 

Chester drew a long breath. 

“ An automobile ran into us,” he said in a husky 
whisper, “ and they didn’t stop ; and we upset, and 

Mr. Parker can’t move and Charles ” But neither 

Koy, Len nor Harry wanted to hear the rest of Chester’s 
story. 

They were on the way to the stable, and, when 
Phinny came running out to tell them that Chester said 
the accident had happened on the steep hill a mile 
below the Harper farm, a horse was already harnessed, 
and Roy had the reins in his hand. 

“Harry, Len and I will go,” Roy said, “and one 
of us will come right back to let you know what’s 
happened,” and, with a word to his horse, he nodded 


At Orchard House 115 

good-bye to Phineas, and drove swiftly off into the 
night. 

“ Don’t worry, Chester, everything is coming out all 
right,” said Phineas to the boy. 


CHAPTEE XII 


BOWS AND ARKOWS 

“ I WISH father were at home ; he would know just 
what to do,” said Helen, as she followed her mother 
and Phineas back to the piazza. 

“Eoy will do all that can be done,” replied Mrs. 
Harper, “and I hope nothing very serious has hap- 
pened.” 

Margaret had persuaded little Chester to eat some 
of the salad, and the other boys were asking him all 
sorts of questions. 

“We didn’t hear it coming or anything. The first 
thing I knew it struck us — bang ! and was off like a 
big bat into the darkness,” he said. 

Further questioning revealed the fact that the wagon 
had been knocked over, throwing them all out, and 
that Mr. Parker was stunned and unable to move from 
where he fell. 

“ I guess he’s killed,” declared the boy chokingly. 
“ Charlie wouldn’t let me wait to see. Charlie said 
for me to run just as fast as I could and get somebody 
to come and help.” 

ii6 


At Orchard House 


117 


“P’raps he isn’t much hurt,” said Matt gently. 
Nonny looked at the older boy in surprise. J^onny 
could not remember, in all the time he had been in the 
asylum, that he heard Matt speak so kindly to one of 
the boys. 

“ Maybe it’s ’cos his arm’s broke,” thought the little 
lame boy. 

“ Couldn’t we help about clearing away ? ” Phineas 
asked Mrs. Harper. 

“ Yes, indeed,” she responded, and the boys were 
soon carefully removing the dishes from the long table, 
and then Phineas, Helen and Margaret moved the table 
to the further end of the piazza. 

“ I hear wheels and voices,” declared Matthew, who 
was standing in the driveway, and in a few moments 
the even beat of a horse’s hoofs was heard, and then 
Len’s voice called out : 

“ First arrivals from the wreck,” and the carriage 
stopped under the swinging lanterns, and Mr. Parker, 
moving rather slowly, stepped out, followed by Charlie 
Watson. 

“ Eoy and Harry are coming with Mr. Parker’s 
horse,” Len explained, as he drove off toward the 
stable followed by Phineas and Arthur Joyce, while 
the other boys gathered around Charlie Watson. Mr. 


ii8 “The Ljittk Runaways 

Parker, evidently very much shaken by his recent ex- 
perience, sat down beside Mrs. Harper and told her of 
the accident, while Helen and Margaret ran to the 
kitchen to make him a cup of tea, and prepare supper 
for Charlie. 

“ These boys did just the right thing,” Mr. Parker 
declared, resting his hand on Chester’s arm. “ When 
the auto struck us I was thrown headlong and lost 
consciousness. When I came to Charlie was rubbing 
my hands, and told me that Chester had gone for help. 
The old horse wasn’t hurt, I’m glad to say, but I guess 
there isn’t much more than a sample left of my old 
wagon.” 

If Cathie could have seen Mr. Parker when he and 
the twins started for home that night, she would have 
been quite sure that two of Phinny’s boys would find 
a home. 

There was not much time for the boys to look 
thi’ough the telescope, or for Koy to point out the 
different constellations which could be seen in the 
August skies; for it was ten o’clock before the little 
party remembered the object of their visit, and Phinny 
felt that they must start for home. 

“ When winter comes, Matthew, you must come over 
and have another look. I’m glad to hear that we are 


At Orchard House 


119 

going to be neighbors,” Koy Harper said, as he bade 
the boys good-night. 

“ Thank you,” Matthew responded, and as he said 
good-night to Mrs. Harper he followed Phinny’s ex- 
ample and thanked her for inviting him to Harper farm. 

Arthur Joyce was very quiet on the ride home. 
He was thinking about the wonders of the farm, the 
young colts, the splendid horses, the sleek cattle and 
the flocks of sheep ; and of how friendly Harry Harper 
had been. “ Wisht I could live there,” he whispered 
to himself. 

It was a sleepy load of boys that reached Orchard 
House just before midnight. Len and Phinny bade 
them good-night at the gate. 

“ Go easy, fellers, so’s not to wake up Miss Pitts,” 
whispered Matt, leading the way on tiptoe up the path 
to the house. 

Honny kept very close to Matt to-night ; he didn’t 
know why, but he had begun to like Matthew. For 
years Honny had been afraid of the big boy, but he 
was sure that he need never be afraid again. “ I guess 
it’s because his arm’s broke, that’s why,” Honny again 
said to himself. 

There was a dim light in the kitchen ; the rest of the 
house was dark and still. 


120 ‘The Tittle Runaways 

“You take the lamp, Andrew; be careful,” com- 
manded Matt ; and Andrew obeyed, leading the way 
up the creaking staircase, followed by the boys who 
walked as noiselessly as possible. 

Miss Pitts smiled as she lay listening. “ Bless their 
hearts,” she whispered ; “ good as gold, every one of ’em. 
They need only half a chance to make real good men, 
I’m sure.” 

The morning after the visit to the Harper farm was 
stormy. The clouds were dark and heavy, and the 
rain came steadily down as if it did not mean to stop 
for a week. 

Phinny was over at Orchard House at an early hour, 
and started a little blaze in the fireplace in the big 
front room. 

He brought over two big covered baskets, and, after 
his fire was well started, he ran back to his workshop 
and brought over another. 

“It’s a fine day for us to finish up the bows and 
arrows for our Archery Club,” Phinny said, as the 
boys watched him open the baskets and take out 
several bundles of strips of spruce wood. Each of 
these strips was about twenty-six inches long, and was 
very straight of grain. 

“ Here, Matt ; the arrows are your job,” said Phinny. 


At Orchard House 


121 


“ J ust let the boys see those two beauties you have 
finished, and show them how it’s done. Fred Dwight 
says that anybody can make a bow, but that an arrow 
takes a good workman. You see, if an arrow isn’t just 
right it will never shoot straight, no matter how well 
it is aimed.” 

Matt smiled radiantly at Phinny’s words. Miss 
Pitts, looking in at the doorway for a moment, turned 
quickly back to the kitchen. 

“ When I see Matthew smile like that it’s all I can 
do not to cry,” she said to herself ; “ it’s just as if he 
was so surprised to be treated well that he didn’t know 
how to show it. 

“ The fact is, he’s never been appreciated before,” 
she decided, quite forgetting Matt’s surly, unfriendly 
manner during the first days of his stay at Orchard 
House. 

“ I want JSTonny and Andrew to help on the arrows,” 
said Matt, establishing himself on one end of the big 
wooden settle near the western window. “ You can’t 
take chances with arrows,” he added thoughtfully, 
sorting out the sticks of spruce into three piles, and 
looking over his box of feather arrow-tips which 
he had trimmed and prepared several days before. 
The pieces of spruce had already been planed off 


122 'The hit tie Runaways 

to a degree of smoothness, and Matt now showed 
JSTonny and Andrew how to sandpaper away all 
the rough places, and make the shaft round and 
smooth. 

“ I’ll bring over some glue this afternoon to fasten 
the feather-tips to the arrows,” said Phinny, looking 
admiringly at the feathers that were lying, all cut to 
shape, in Matt’s box. 

“ Phinny,” called Miss Pitts from the kitchen, 
“I’m going to have pot roast and raspberry pie 
for dinner, and I want you to go and ask your 
mother and Cathie to come over and eat dinner 
with us. There’s more than a plenty ; and tell 
them to fetch their work and spend the after- 
noon.” 

“ That means me, too, doesn’t it ? ” questioned 
Phinny laughingly, and before Miss Pitts could answer 
him he was out of the house, and racing down toward 
home. 

There was a pleasant sound of voices and work from 
the front room of Orchard House. Matt and Nonny 
had the settle, and Arthur and Andrew were comfort- 
ably established on the floor. 

“ What is an Archery Club, anyway ? ” asked Honny, 
rubbing his piece of sandpaper vigorously up and down 


At Orchard House 


*23 

a strip of spruce, already nearly as smooth as wood 
could be. 

“ It’s a lot of boys who have bows and arrows and 
shoot at a mark,” explained Andrew carefully, holding 
his own strip of wood toward the light, closing one 
eye as he had noticed Phinny do one day when look- 
ing at a piece of work. 

“ Couldn’t a feller shoot rabbits or bears, maybe, 
with a bow and arrow?” Honny asked hopefully. 
“Indians used to; Miss Goddard read me a splen- 
did story about two Indian boys who lived in the 
woods, and made themselves clothes out of rabbit 
skins.” 

Andrew stopped polishing his arrow. “Tell some 
more ! ” he demanded eagerly. “ What else did those 
fellows do ? ” 

“ They made a brush house,” ISTonny went on slowly, 
“ and when winter came they packed snow hard down 
all over the brush, and the snow froze and the inside 
was warm,” declared Honny, “ and they caught fish, 
and roasted the rabbits. Oh, I teU you, they lived 
very well.” 

Andrew sat staring out into the rain. He was 
thinking of a splendid place where Indian boys could 
live. 


124 hittle Runaways 

He had seen it one day when Len had taken them 
all on a fishing trip to Long Pond. Andrew remem- 
bered the thick, close-growing branches of the spruce 
and fir trees. Then he looked at the arrows, and 
began work again. 

“ Did you fellers know that Miss Pitts is going to 
adopt me ? ” Matt asked, looking at Andrew a little 
anxiously ; for Matt, like all the others, had believed 
that Andrew would be the one if Miss Pitts decided to 
give a home to any one of the boys. She certainly 
seemed to like him best. 

Andrew nodded. 

‘‘ Funny,” said Arthur Joyce, from his seat on the 
floor. “Hobody else ever wanted you, did they. 
Matt?” 

Matt’s face flushed angrily, and he gave a quick 
sullen glance toward the little boy. But he did not 
answer. A month ago Arthur would not have es- 
caped, after such a remark, without a volley of angry 
words from Matt, or a rough shaking, at the very 
best. 

“Guess all the rest of us will have to go back,” 
Arthur continued. 

Andrew sprang to his feet, dropping his arrows, 
which fell in a sudden clatter on the bare floor. “ I 


At Orchard House 


125 

won’t go back, I won’t ! ” be declared. “ I can’t stand 
it there any more.” 

The other boys looked at him in astonishment. For 
Andrew, quiet, serious Andrew, to rebel was a new 
experience. And he looked as if he was going to cry, 
too. 

“ Here comes Miss Pitts,” said Matt warningly, and 
Andrew sat down just as suddenly as he had sprung 
up. 

“ Here are some warm doughnuts, boys ! ” announced 
Miss Pitts from the doorway. She brought the shin- 
ing tin pan, filled with golden brown rings and twists, 
into the room and set it down beside Matt. “ There,” 
she said, “ help yourselves ; and if you get thirsty 
come right out and get a glass of milk. It’s quite a 
long time before dinner, and I know healthy boys are 
always hungry.” 

Toward noon the dark clouds began to disappear, 
and when Mrs. Burton and Cathie reached Orchard 
House the rain had entirely ceased. The arrow-makers 
were still busy over their work. 

“ Are the bows and arrows ours ? ” Andrew asked 
Phinny, when Miss Pitts called them all in to their 
dinner. 

“ Sure ! ” Phinny answered. “ You have a good bow 


126 T^he Liittle Runaways 

and three arrows; you can do just what you please 
with them.’’ 

“ I guess I could make more arrows,” Andrew re- 
sponded thoughtfully. 


CHAPTEE XIII 


A CHAPTER OF DISAPPOINTMENTS 

“ Where’s Andrew ? ” Cathie stood on the door-step 
of Orchard House. Miss Pitts was just coming down 
the stairs. 

“ He’s in the orchard shooting arrows at that mark 
Fred Dwight set up,” replied Miss Pitts. “ Andrew’s 
been more quiet than ever these last few days. When 
he isn’t shooting at that mark he’s making arrows to 
shoot with.” 

“ He’s got to stop it,” Cathie declared so earnestly 
that Miss Pitts looked at the little girl in surprise. 

“ My land, Cathie ! there ain’t a mite of harm in 
Andrew’s shooting at that mark. He don’t hit it very 
often, and Phinny wants the boys to have a real good 
time. You see there’s only one more week before 
they’ll be going back to the asylum.” 

“ Oh, dear ! ” and now Cathie’s voice sounded very 
mournful and discouraged. 

“ What is the matter, Cathie ? ” Miss Pitts demanded 
anxiously. 


127 


128 "The Little Runaways 

“Well, there’s only one more week to get five boys 
adopted, and nobody’s doing a single thing about it,” 
said Cathie. 

“ Well, you can’t expect me to do more’n I have,” 
responded Miss Pitts. “ I’ve promised to do my best 
by Matthew.” 

“You’ve been splendid, just splendid,” declared 
Cathie, “ and if you can take a disagreeable, ugly boy 
like Matthew Warren to bring up, I should think other 
people might take nice, pleasant boys, like Andrew and 
Arthur.” 

“ ISTow, Cathie, there ain’t a thing disagreeable about 
Matthew, not a single thing. Maybe he was a little 
nervous when he first came, but that passed off and I 
wouldn’t ask to have a more pleasant-minded boy than 
Matthew.” 

Matt, who at that moment came around the corner 
of the house, heard Miss Pitts’ last statement, and 
smiled so radiantly that Miss Pitts and Cathie both 
smiled back at him. 

“Well, he looks pleasant,” said Cathie with a little 
laugh, as she ran off toward the orchard. 

Just beyond the big apple tree, where Cathie had 
hidden to watch the asylum boys at their first dinner, 
Fred Dwight had set up the mark for the archers, and 



THE LITTLE BOY LOOKED AT HER EAGERLY 


r 




1 


I 






At Orchard House 


129 


ISTonny, Arthur and Andrew, with bows nearly as long 
as the boys were tall, with quivers woven of basket- 
stuff and filled with feather-tipped arrows, stood at the 
distance Fred had set for them, forty feet from the 
mark. 

“ Andrew ! ” Cathie called, and the little boy, rather 
reluctantly, came toward her. “Andrew, wouldn’t 
you like to live with Len Jones?” Cathie demanded 
earnestly. 

“ Of course I would ! But what’s the use ? His 
mother don’t want me,” Andrew answered, in a dis- 
couraged voice. 

“ I’ve found out why,” said Cathie, “ and it’s some- 
thing you can change, Andrew.” 

The little boy looked at her eagerly, and Cathie 
nodded reassuringly. “ Yes, Andrew, Mrs. Jones says 
that you are too quiet. Those were her very words. 
She said that if there was a boy around she liked to 
hear him.” 

“ I didn’t s’pose a boy could be too quiet,” responded 
Andrew thoughtfully. “ I’ve always tried and tried 
to be just as quiet as I could, and the ’sylum folks 
always Liked it.” 

“ Well, now you try being noisy,” said Cathie firmly ; 
“perhaps it’s because Mrs. Jones is deaf, but, anyway. 


100 The Tittle Runaways 

she likes noisy boys. And you’ve none too much time,” 
she continued ; “ there’s just one week more for you to 
stay at Orchard House.” 

“What had I better do first?” asked Andrew, 
eagerly. 

“ You run right over to Mrs. Jones’s now, and I 
guess you can find some way to be noisy,” advised 
Cathie. 

“ I’ll put my bow and arrows away first,” said An- 
drew, starting toward the house. 

Cathie sat down on the grass and watched Arthur 
and Honny. “Phinny says Honny is going to stay, 
that he’ll adopt Honny and pay his board if nobody 
wants to adopt him,” she thought, “ and who will take 
Arthur unless it is the Harpers; and I don’t believe 
the Harpers have even thought about it. Oh, dear ! ” 
And Cathie almost wished that Phineas had postponed 
starting the vacation home for boys until after he had 
graduated from college. 

“ I know one thing,” she resolved, “ and that is, that 
when I have six girls here for a month next summer, 
I’m going to teach them a lot of useful things, so that 
everybody will want them.” 

Honny came up and sat down beside the little 
girl. “ I’m tired,” he said. “ When I was over 


At Orchard House 


» 3 > 

to Mr. Goddard’s be used to read to me every day 
about this time,” and he looked up at Cathie hope 
fully. 

Cathie smiled, but shook her head. “ I can’t read to 
you, Nonny,” she said; “I must go right home now 
and help Mother Burton.” 

Nonny watched Cathie until the orchard trees hid 
her from sight. Then with a little sigh of disappoint- 
ment he stretched himself out on the grass, with his 
hands beneath his head, and lay looking up at the 
summer sky. Arthur came and sat down beside him, 
and for a few moments neither of the boys spoke. 
These two lads had been good friends at the asylum, 
and ISTonny was the only one in whom Arthur ever con- 
fided. 

“ I hate to go back,” said Arthur, “ but I guess I 
don’t hate it as much as Andrew does.” 

“ Miss Gilman likes us,” said Nonny, speaking of the 
kind-hearted matron of the asylum, who did her best 
to make her charges realize that she was always their 
friend. 

‘‘ Andrew says he won’t go back,” went on, Arthur. 
“ He says if nobody wants him he’s got a plan for him- 
self. 

“ But you mustn’t tell, Honny.” 


13 ^ 


T^he Little Runaways 

“ I won’t,” promised the lame boy, but without much 
interest in what Arthur was saying ; for Nonny was 
thinking of the hammock under the trees in Mr. God- 
dard’s yard, and of the wonderful story Mr. Goddard 
had read to him about highland chiefs. Nonny knew 
that Phineas meant for him to stay somewhere in 
Skillings Tillage ; but Nonny did not care much about 
it. Of course it would be splendid if he could stay 
with the friendly clergyman, who seemed to like to 
rea<^ to him, and always patted Nonny’s smooth brown 
head, but 

Nonny’s thoughts were interrupted by Arthur spring- 
ing up suddenly with a joyful shout : “ There’s Harry 

Harper ! ” and away Arthur ran, eager to reach the gate 
of Orchard House by the time Harry arrived there. 
But Honny did not move. 

“ I guess I’d rather go back and stay at the asylum 
than have Phinny pay my board,” thought Honny ; for 
the asylum boys had all waked up to the fact that 
Phinny Burton worked very hard, and that he was 
generous to every one except Phinny Burton; and, 
since Honny could not live with Mr. Goddard and his 
sister, the little lame boy was quite sure that he would 
rather return to Miss Gilman at the asylum ; and when 
Phinny came down through the old apple orchard and 


At Orchard House 


>33 

stopped to speak to Nonny the boy told him of his 
decision. 

There was nothing Phineas could say, for he did not 
know just what arrangement he could make for Nonny. 
Phineas had hoped that Mr. Goddard would want 
Nonny to stay with him ; but now there was only one 
more week, and the clergyman had said nothing of the 
matter. 

Phineas and Cathie were both rather more quiet than 
usual, and Mrs. Burton knew that it was because they 
were disappointed at the failure of their plans to secure 
homes for the boys. 

“ I guess it’s going to be the making of Matt to have 
a real home,” said Mrs. Burton. “ He seems as good as 
a kitten these days. It’s worth all your trouble, 
Phineas, to have Matthew have such a good chance 
here in the village.” 

“Nonny wants to go back to the asylum,” re- 
sponded Phineas soberly. “ And I don’t know what 
the matter is with Andrew Hill. When I came across 
the field to dinner I found him scrouched down by the 
fence crying as hard as he could cry ; and when I 
stopped to speak to him he kicked at me with both 
feet.” 

“ Kicked at you ! ” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. “ Andrew 


134 T'he Runaways 

kicked ! ” and apparently could say nothing more. 
Cathie, with a half -smothered exclamation, had jumped 
up from the table, and ran out down the field. She 
was looking for Andrew. 

“ Go away ; it’s your fault. I wouldn’t have done 
it if you hadn’t told me she liked noisy boys,” 
whimpered the boy, when Cathie, anxious and out of 
breath, discovered him close to the fence with his face 
hidden from view. 

“ Oh, Andrew ! What did you do ? ” persisted Cathie, 
sitting down beside him, and feeling almost ready to 
cry herself. 

“ Made a noise. And Mrs. Jones told me to go 
straight back to Orchard House and stay there. Said 
she’d thought I was a nice quiet boy, but she guessed 
I’d been putting it on ; and she was glad she had found 
me out in time.” And Andrew sat up suddenly and 
faced Cathie. ‘‘I am a quiet boy ! ” he declared 
fiercely. “ What did you tell me to go over there and 
make a noise for ? ” 

For a moment Cathie stared at him in wondering 
silence. “ She said she liked noisy boys,” she replied 
quite soberly. 

“ Well, she don’t, and I ought to have known that 
nobody likes boys, anyway, ’specially noisy boys,” said 


At Orchard House 


135 


Andrew, getting slowly to his feet. “ You needn’t feel 
bad,” he added, relentingly. “ I guess you didn’t know 
any better,” and Andrew started off toward Orchard 
House, leaving Cathie wondering what dreadful thing 
Andrew had done. 

It had been nothing very alarming. He had ham- 
mered loudly on Mrs. Jones’s kitchen door. Then he 
had stamped his feet up and down on the floor, and, 
wishing to prove that he could furnish any amount of 
noise, had kicked the shining milk tins from the edge 
of the piazza. 

“ I don’t know as I want any more asylum children 
to come to Orchard House,” thought Cathie, as she 
walked slowly toward home. 

“ Don’t say a word to Andrew ; don’t blame him, I 
mean,” she said to Phinny. “ I’m the one to blame. 
I always am. I told Andrew to do something, and of 
course it turned out to be just the wrong thing for him 
to do.” 

Cathie did not explain what she had told Andrew to 
do, and Phineas did not question her. He was feeling 
a little discouraged himself. 

“ I guess the Parkers are going to keep the twins, 
anyway,” he said, thinking this possibility might en- 
courage Cathie. 


136 The Tittle Runaways 

“ Oh, Phinny ! ” and Cathie’s voice sounded as if a 
new trouble was close at hand. “ Didn’t you know ? 
Mr. Washington Parker brought the twins back about 
an hour ago.” 


CHAPTER XIV 


A WONDERLAND PARTY 

‘‘Mother Burton, Miss Pitts says that Harry 
Harper has invited us all over to the Harper farm to- 
morrow afternoon,” said Cathie on her return from her 
usual morning visit to Orchard House. “ You and I 
are ’specially invited.” 

“ I wouldn’t miss it for anything,” responded Mrs. 
Burton. “ I don’t know of any nicer place to have a 
good time than at Harper farm. Miss Pitts means to 
go, doesn’t she ? ” 

“ Yes, but she’s real worried this morning about one 
of those gray blankets that Miss Goddard loaned her. 
One of them has disappeared ; she can’t find it any- 
where,” replied Cathie. 

“ I guess it can’t be far away,” said Mrs. Burton. 

“ And the Watson twins are in the dumps,” continued 
Cathie. “ It seems they thought that Mr. Parker and 
his sister meant to adopt them ; and I suppose I’m to 
blame for their thinking so, just as I am for starting 
Andrew over to Mrs. Jones.” Cathie looked very 

137 


138 "The Liittle Runaways 

sober. Not even the prospect of a visit with Helen 
and Margaret Harper had lightened her spirits. 

“ Cath-ie, Cather-ine ! ” sounded a familiar voice, 
and Helen Harper came running up the porch steps. 

“Mrs. Burton, can’t Cathie go home with me now? 
I want her to help us get ready for the party to-mor- 
row,” said Helen, perching herself on the arm of the 
wooden rocking-chair in which Mrs. Burton was sit- 
ting. 

“It’s going to be an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ party. 
We’re going to have the Cheshire Cat, the White 
Babbit, and the Frog Footman, and a lot more.” 

“ Oh, Helen,” exclaimed Cathie admiringly, “ how 
did you think of such a splendid plan ? ” 

“ I’m always thinking of splendid things, but I don’t 
often have a chance to carry out my thoughts,” re- 
joined Helen laughingly. 

“ I’m sure it will be a real nice party, but the Or- 
chard House boys don’t know anything more about 
Cheshire Cats and Frog Footmen than they know about 
angels, nor as much,” said Mrs. Burton. 

“Arthur Joyce does,” replied Helen. “I read the 
book to him when he was at our house ; and mother 
said I was to bring Arthur home. We want him for 
the White Babbit. Margaret and Harry are making 


At Orchard House 


‘39 

pasteboard heads for the Dormouse, and all the rest of 
the characters.” 

“ I read part of the story to Nonny Sykes, so he 
knows,” said Cathie ; “ it will be fun. Can I go back 
with Helen, Mother Burton ? ” 

“ Just as well as not,” responded Mrs. Burton. Miss 
Pitts and I will ride over with Phinny, and Len can 
take the boys over in the hay wagon.” 

Helen ran over to Orchard House to tell Miss Pitts 
of the plans for the next day, and to tell Arthur that 
he was to be ready to return with her to Harper farm. 
But Arthur had gone off with Andrew for a tramp 
through the woods, so Helen and Cathie had to start 
without him. 

“ Tell the boys to bring their bows and ar- 
rows,” Helen said as she bade Miss Pitts good-bye. 
“Koy has a prize for the boy who makes the best 
score.” 

“ Andrew will get the prize,” said Matt, as he and 
Miss Pitts stood at the gate watching Helen and Cathie 
drive off. “ He’s always practicing,” continued Matt, 
“ and yesterday he hit the bull’s-eye seven times out of 
ten. Hone of the other boys do as well.” 

“ I guess it’s because they don’t try,” responded Miss 
Pitts. ‘‘ It’s too bad you’ve missed the chance of so 


140 "The Liittle Runaways 

many good times on account of that tumble, Matthew,” 
she added kindly. 

Matt looked up at her in surprise. 

“Me?” he exclaimed. “Why, Miss Pitts, I ain’t 
missed anything. Gee ! I never had so good a time 
in my life. And just think how lucky I am. I’m go- 
ing to be your boy, and all the rest of the fellers have 
to go back to the asylum. I don’t care anything about 
shooting at a mark, and I had the fun of making the 
arrows, anyway.” 

Miss . Pitts nodded approvingly. “ So you did, Mat- 
thew. Well, I must try and hunt up my butcher-knife. 
I can’t see where I put it,” she said, turning back to 
the house. 

“ Guess it’s keeping company with Phinny’s hatchet,” 
suggested Matt laughingly, following her into the 
kitchen. “ I heard Phinny say he couldn’t find his 
hatchet.” 

“I’ve been thinking, Matthew,” said Miss Pitts, 
opening the drawer of the kitchen table in a vain search 
for the missing knife, “ that I’d be real pleased if you 
felt like calling me ‘ Aunt Eliza.’ ” 

“Yes’m,” responded Matt. “I’d be real proud to,” 
he added. 

“ Well, then, that’s all settled. But maybe you’d 


At Orchard House 


» 4 ' 

better not begin until the other boys are gone,” she 
said. 

“ All right,” agreed Matt. “ I guess they would feel 
a little left out,” he added slowly. “ Say, Miss Pitts, I 
wisht 'Normy didn’t have to go back.” 

‘‘ I wish so, too, Matthew,” responded Miss Pitts with 
a little sigh. 

Andrew and Arthur did not return in time for the 
midday meal, and it was late in the afternoon when 
Phinny saw the two little boys coming slowly across 
the pasture. 

“ Had a good time, boys ? ” Phinny asked, as he 
went to meet them. “ You look tired.” 

“ I’m tired to death,” grumbled Arthur, “ but An- 
drew teased me to go.” 

Andrew did not speak. He looked more serious than 
ever, and offered no explanation for their long absence 
from Orchard House. 

When Miss Pitts told the boys that night of the in- 
vitation to visit Harper farm, she added, turning to 
Arthur, “ And Helen was real disappointed not to take 
you home with her, Arthur. Harry sent word for you 
to come.” 

“ There ! ” exclaimed Arthur in an angry voice, turn- 
ing toward Andrew. “ How you see what I’ve missed 


142 "The Little Runaways 

by going off with you to your silly woods ; I guess you 

can be all the Indian boys you want to. I ” and 

Arthur stopped as suddenly as he had begun. 

Andrew did not even look up from his plate, and no 
one gave any special attention to what Arthur said ex- 
cept Matt, who asked : 

“ Been playing Indian ? Made believe you were 
those two boys who killed rabbits with their bows and 
arrows ? ” 

“We didn’t kill any rabbits,” Arthur grumbled in a 
surly voice. He was very tired, and bitterly disap- 
pointed at having missed a chance to go to Harper 
farm. 

“ I expect that you’ll all have a splendid time to- 
morrow,” said Miss Pitts, “ and after supper you boys 
can look at a book Helen Harper left here for you to 
read.” 

“ It’s a girl’s book ! ” announced Chester Watson. 
“ It says, ‘ Adventures of Alice in Wonderland.’ ” 

“ Yes,” agreed Miss Pitts, “ but as I recall the story 
I don’t believe that any boy ever had so many remark- 
able things happen to him as happen in that book.” 

The next day found the boys eager for the time to 
arrive for them to start for the Harpers’. All but 
Andrew, who had disappeared directly after breakfast. 


At Orchard House 


H3 

“ He’s off in the woods again,” said Arthur, a little 
scornfully. 

“ Well, I hope he’ll be back in good season. We 
plan to start right after dinner. Have any of you 
boys seen my pint dipper ? ” she added. But the boys 
declared they had not. 

Dinner time came, but Andrew did not appear, and 
when Phinny drove off with Mother Burton and Miss 
Pitts he had not returned. 

“I’ll wait half an hour,” said Len good-naturedly. 

“You have Andrew eat his dinner, Leander. I’ve 
covered it up on one end of the table,” Miss Pitts 
said. 

The other boys were uneasy and anxious to start, 
and at the end of the half hour Len drove off without 
Andrew. 

“ Too bad,” Len said, “ for the little fellow to miss 
the good time at the Harpers’ ; but it’s not fair to you 
chaps to wait any longer.” 

“ We’ve waited too long now,” grumbled Arthur. 

As the hay wagon with its expectant load of eager- 
faced boys turned into the lane leading to the Harper 
farm, Honny waved both arms and exclaimed in an 
excited voice : “ Look, fellers ! Look ! There they 
come ! ” 


144 Liittle Runaways 

There was a chorus of exclamations from the other 
boys as they saw a little procession coming down the 
lane. 

The first figure carried a long tin horn in one hand 
and a roll of paper in the other. It wore a huge paper 
ruff around its neck, and a big loose coat of bright 
green cotton marked off in white squares, like a checker- 
board. 

“ It’s the White Kabbit ! See its ears ! ” said 
Nonny. 

“ And that’s Humpty Dumpty,” declared Arthur, as 
a queer figure left the procession and perched itself on 
the stone wall, from which it tumbled, and lay on the 
soft grass, making no effort to arise. 

“The last one is the Frog Footman,” said Honny. 
“ See, he’s going to lead Old Whitey.” 

“ That’s Harry Harper, aU right,” laughed Len. 

Cathie, wearing a big pasteboard mask, was the 
Cheshire Cat, and the Harpers had costumes all ready 
for their guests. The costumes were made of sheets 
of heavy cardboard tied over the shoulders with 
colored ribbons, and made to represent the Mad 
Hatter, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, and a number 
of others. 

The big carriage house had been cleared, and the 


At Orchard House 


145 

Frog Footman led the guests in and introduced them 
to Mrs. Harper, Mrs. Burton and Miss Pitts. 

“ It looks just as if they were right out of the book,” 
declared Mrs. Burton, as the Frog Footman led the 
White Babbit toward her. 

“ All join hands,” he called, when all the party had 
been introduced, and as he spoke, there came the first 
gay strains of music from behind a screen of woven 
pine boughs at one end of the carriage house. 

“ That’s Boy’s flute ! ” exclaimed Arthur ; “ and it’s 
Mr. Harper playing the violin, T’ll bet.” 

Bound and round swung the circle from “ Wonder- 
land ” until the music stopped. Then they were all 
glad to take off the pasteboard masks and costumes 
and follow Mrs. Harper to the piazza and enjoy the 
ice-cream and cakes. And such cakes ! For every 
cake was in the shape of a Wonderland figure, with 
pink frosting for the Cheshire Cat, and pink frosting 
for Humpty Dumpty, whom the Mad Hatter had 
helped to raise himself up again. 

While they were all enjoying themselves Andrew 
was running through the woods and pastures hoping 
to reach Orchard House in time to start with the 
others. He had no way of knowing the time, and 
Len had been gone an hour before Andrew climbed 


146 "The Liittle Runaways 

the pasture fence and, looking toward the house, 
realized that he was too late. 

“ I don’t care,” he said aloud, as he pushed open the 
kitchen door just as the clock struck two. Andrew 
saw that Miss Pitts had left his dinner on the table. 
He was very hungry, and was soon eating the cold beef 
stew, the fresh gingerbread and apple tart. 

“ I don’t care,” he repeated, as he carried the dishes 
to the sink, and brushed the crumbs from the table. 
After he had put the room in order he went out-of- 
doors and sat down on the door-step. He was too tired 
to go down in the orchard and shoot at the mark, or 
to do anything except sit quietly. He rested his head 
against the house, and closed his eyes. He was too 
tired even to wonder what the others were doing. 

Mrs. Jones, coming across the fields, saw the little 
figure on the door-step of Orchard House. 

“ I declare ! ” she said to herself as she drew nearer 
and discovered that it was Andrew. “ I wonder why 
Andrew didn’t go with the others? How tired he 
looks ! ” 

Mrs. Jones approached him very softly and sat down 
beside the sleeping boy. Yery gently she slipped 
her arm between the boy’s head and the gray clap- 
boards. He makes me think of Lennie when he was 


At Orchard House 


H7 

this age,” she thought. “ Poor little boy, with no 
mother.” 

Andrew slept peacefully on, and Mrs. Jones sat be- 
side him, the boy’s head resting confortably on her 
arm. 


CHAPTEK XY 


ABOUT ANDREW 

Andrew awoke with a start, and, for a moment, 
did not realize that he was really awake. It could not 
be real, he thought, that his head was resting against 
Mrs. Jones’s shoulder, and that she should be looking 
down at him with such a friendly smile. 

“ You’ve had a real good nap,” Mrs. Jones said 
kindly, “but why didn’t you go with the others to 
Harper farm ? ” 

Andrew sat up very straight and brushed back the 
hair from his forehead. “ I went off to the woods and 
didn’t get home in time,” he answered, speaking each 
word very clearly. 

“Well, now, if that ain’t too bad. From what Len 
told me I should say you were missing a real good 
time. What started you off to the woods, anyway, 
Andrew ? ” 

Andrew looked away from the kind face, and made 
no answer. He was thinking to himself that if it 
had not been for Cathie Burton telling him that 
Mrs. Jones liked noisy boys that perhaps Mrs. Jones 
148 


At Orchard House 


149 

might have wanted him to stay at her house, and 
then 

“ I didn’t hear what you said, Andrew,” said 
Mrs. Jones. 

“ I’m sorry I made all that noise over to your house,” 
declared Andrew suddenly. 

Mrs. Jones smiled. “Well, ’twas a surprise tome, 
sure enough,” she responded, “but Len was always 
rather noisy, so I ought to have known that boys are 
all more or less so. I’ll have to be stepping home 
now, and you’d better come over and stay with me till 
your folks get back.” 

As they walked across the fields together Andrew 
was wishing that he dared tell Mrs. Jones that he really 
was a quiet boy. There was something else he would 
have liked to tell her, but that something else he could 
never tell to any one, he thought. Arthur knew this 
secret of Andrew’s, but he was sure that Arthur would 
not tell. 

“ You are like my Leander in one way,” said Mrs. 
Jones, as they reached her house. “ You like to be off 
in the woods. I don’t suppose that any one knows the 
woods and streams in this township as well as my Len. 
I expect if you should get lost in any of your tramps 
Len would know just where to find you.” 


1^0 T^he Liittle Runaways 

Andrew looked up with startled eyes. “ How would 
he know ? ” he asked. 

“I can’t answer that, I’m sure,” responded Mrs. 
Jones pleasantly ; “ but don’t you take any chances 
about getting lost on account of my saying that Len 
could find you, for just as likely as not he couldn’t. 
How I shouldn’t wonder if the Harpers were giving 
those other boys something real good to eat — ice- 
cream and cake, for all that we know. So you and I 
will see what we can have. You come right in 
to the sitting-room, Andrew, and I’ll see what I can 
find to eat.” 

Andrew seated himself on the edge of the wide sofa and 
looked about him. There was a big table in the center 
of the room holding a lamp with a green shade ; there 
were books and papers on the table. On the painted 
floor were large braided rugs, and there was a fireplace 
with a high mantel. As Andrew looked about the 
plain room with its comfortable chairs and pleasant out- 
look over broad fields toward the distant woods, he 
gave a little sigh. “ I guess Indian boys are different. 
I guess they like living in a brush house in the woods,” 
he whispered to himself. 

In a few moments Mrs. Jones returned with a white 
covered tray holding a pretty glass dish of blanc 


At Orchard House 


‘ 5 » 

mange, a tiny bowl of powdered sugar and a pink and 
white pitcher filled with cream. On the pink plate 
were several round cakes with white frosting. 

“ Pound cake and blanc mange isn’t ice-cream,” she 
said, setting the tray on Andrew’s knees, “ but I guess 
it will taste pretty good.” 

“ Yes’m ! ” Andrew agreed promptly. Until the last 
crumb of cake had disappeared Andrew did not speak. 
Then, as Mrs. Jones took the tray, he looked up at her 
gratefully. “ Thank you. You’re real good,” he said. 

“ Len tells me you can shoot an arrow straighter 
than any of the other boys, and that you can make 
splendid arrows, too,” she said kindly, wishing to 
praise the little boy who sat so quietly on her black 
haircloth-covered sofa. 

The little smile faded from Andrew’s face, and he 
made no response. He wished that Mrs. Jones would 
not talk so much about the woods, and about making 
arrows. It made him feel as if she knew what he in- 
tended to do. For Andrew had made a very serious 
resolve. 

He had determined never to return to the Boston 
asylum, but to build a brush house in the woods 
and live in it. He had found the place for his wig- 
wam. It was several miles from Orchard House, not 


152 The Tittle Runaways 

far from Long Pond, in a thickly-growing grove of 
pines. He had tried to persuade Arthur to join him, 
but Arthur, after looking at the dark woods and 
lonely lake, had declared that he thought the asylum 
was a real nice place to live, and all Andrew’s state- 
ments as to the delights of killing foxes, rabbits, maybe 
wolves and bears, could not persuade him. “You’ll 
freeze, and I guess you’ll be hungry most of the time,” 
Arthur had said, but he had promised to keep Andrew’s 
secret, and had worked strenuously cutting boughs of 
spruce for Andrew’s shelter. 

It was nearly dusk when Len drove up to Orchard 
House with his load of tired, happy boys. Phinny, 
driving Splendid, had reached home a little earlier, 
bringing Cathie back with Mother Burton and Miss 
Pitts. 

Mrs. Jones and Andrew came into the yard just as 
Phinny drove up, and Mrs. Jones hastened to explain 
how Andrew had happened to be late in getting back 
to Orchard House. “ He’s a sight like Len ; likes to 
wander off in the woods,” she said. 

Cathie’s face brightened as she saw the kind look 
with which Mrs. Jones regarded Andrew. “ I’m going 
to tell her that I told him to be as noisy as he could,” 
resolved Cathie. 





“you said you liked noisy boys” 



At Orchard House 


53 


Mrs. Jones listened in surprise to Cathie’s confession. 
Cathie had followed her to the gate and no one was 
near them. 

“ You said you liked noisy boys,” Cathie reminded 
h^r, ‘‘ and Andrew wanted you to like him.” 

“ I do like him,” responded Mrs. Jones, “ but I was 
considerable put out when he knocked all those milk 
tins off the piazza. I had to wash every single one of 
’em. I declare,” she added, with a little smile, “ I’m 
real pleased to know that Andrew don’t go banging 
around like he did that day.” 

Cathie did not dare to suggest again that Andrew 
would be just the boy to live with the Jones family, 
but she resolved to ask Len to persuade his mother and 
father to take Andrew. 

Arthur and Nonny told Andrew of all that he had 
missed in not going to the Harpers’. 

“ I’m glad I didn’t go,” Andrew declared stubbornly. 

I had a real good time here.” 

Andrew’s plans were now made. He had carried off 
the blanket that Miss Pitts had so promptly missed, the 
knife, the tin dipper and Phinny’s sharp hatchet. It 
had occurred to Andrew that he had no right to take 
these things, but he said to himself that he would pick 
berries, sell them at the village, and leave the money at 


154 Little Runaways 

Orchard House when he went away. So his last 
excursions had been to gather raspberries, which he had 
carried to the village and sold. He had earned a dol- 
lar, and that seemed a large sum to the little boy who 
had never had any money of his own. He was quite 
sure that it was a liberal return for the things he had 
carried off and hidden in the woods. 

“ I guess I’ll go to-morrow,” Andrew confided to 
Arthur the night after the Harper party ; ‘‘ it’s only a 
week more before Phinny is to take us back to Boston, 
and my brush house isn’t finished. I’ve saved a piece 
of bread, or something, from every meal this week. 
I’ve got it all tied up in a paper out in the orchard,” 
he said. 

“ I guess it won’t taste very good,” said Arthur, re- 
newing his promise never under any circumstances to 
betray Andrew’s whereabouts. 

“ I’ll just walk off to-morrow morning with my bow 
and arrows,” said Andrew, “ just like I’ve been doing, 
and they won’t think about me till night.” 

When Andrew finished his breakfast the next morn- 
ing he did not offer to help wash the dishes or make 
the beds. Miss Pitts wondered at his sudden disap- 
pearance, but it was a busy morning and she gave no 
special thought to Andrew until late that afternoon. 


At Orchard House 


»55 


Fred Dwight had been giving a good deal of time to 
his air-ship, and this morning he had told the boys that 
they could all come up in the barn loft and have a 
look at it. 

“ I’m going to try it to-morrow,” Fred declared ; for 
he was convinced that he had made a flying-machine 
that would carry him through the air. The boys were 
all too much interested in looking over this wonderful 
craft to give much thought to the fact that Andrew 
was not there. 

“ If it wasn’t for your arm I’d let you try it. Matt,” 
declared Fred generously. 

“ Not much, Fred,” said Phinny laughingly. “ Matt 
will have to be satisfied with tumbling out of the barn 
loft. Miss Pitts doesn’t want him to break all his 
bones.” 

Matt did not say anything, but he resolved that 
another summer he would certainly wish to have a try 
at fiying. 

While the boys were all interested and excited 
over the air-ship, Andrew was trudging off across the 
pastures. The package of bits of bread, gingerbread 
and cookies was rolled in his jacket, and he had his 
bow and arrows. At the further end of the pasture, 
where the woods began, he had concealed the blanket. 


156 The L.ittle Runaways 

hatchet, the knife and the tin dipper. These things 
made a clumsy burden, and Andrew could not carry 
them very easily. The day was warm and there was 
but little air stirring, and he made slow progress 
through the woods. He was sure that he could find 
the way easily, as he had made several trips to Long 
Pond. 

Although Andrew had made an early start it was 
midday before he saw the cool glimmer of the waters 
of the lake. He carried his things to the pile of brush 
that he and Arthur had cut for a wigwam, and put them 
down with a long breath of relief, and threw himself on 
the ground beside them. 

“ I’m glad I’ve got something to eat and don’t have to 
catch fish or rabbits right off,” he thought, unwrapping 
his package of food. But the dried and crumbling 
ginger-breafi, and the hard bits of bread did not taste 
very good to him ; neither did the drink of water 
from the lake. Andrew could not help but think 
of the good dinner he would have had at Orchard 
House. 

“ I’ll have good things here,” he resolved valiantly. 

“ I’ll catch fish, and ” Andrew stopped suddenly, 

realizing for the first time that he had no way of mak- 
ing a fire. He wondered how the Indian boys had 


At Orchard House 157 

roasted the rabbits that they had killed with their bows 
and arrows. 

After he had rested he decided that he must begin 
on the brush house. But he was puzzled again. He 
had not the faintest idea of the way in which a com- 
fortable shelter could be made of brush ; but he found 
several small trees growing closely together, and de- 
cided that he could stand up the brush he had out 
beside the trees, weaving it in with the branches to 
make a wall that would turn water. 

It was not easy work, and Andrew could not seem to 
make the brush stay where it was put, but he kept on 
trying, and when the sun disappeared behind the tall 
pines Andrew had managed to make a brush wall as 
high as his own head, between two of the little trees 
whose branches grew closely together. It seemed to 
have a good many holes in it. 

“ It will be all right when I get it done,” thought 
the tired boy, spreading the gray blanket on the rough 
ground. It was too dusky to search for berries, and 
Andrew said to himself that he was not very hungry 
anyway ; just thirsty. So he dipped his tin dish into 
the lake and drank, then rolled himself up in the gray 
blanket, and lay looking up through the branches of 
the little spruce trees at the summer sky, watching the 


158 “The Little Runaways 

evening stars come glimmering out, and wondering if 
Len Jones was having pound cake for supper, and what 
the boys were all doing. But Andrew was very tired, 
and was soon asleep. 


CHAPTEE XYI 


MES. JONES DECIDES 

“It beats all how Andrew likes to go off in the 
woods,” said Miss Pitts, as the boys gathered around 
the dinner table at Orchard House and Andrew did not 
appear. 

But she was not very anxious about him, for it was 
no unusual thing for Andrew to start off in the morn- 
ing and not return until late in the afternoon. And 
when supper time came and he was still missing. Matt 
said laughingly that he guessed Andrew had decided to 
live in the woods ; and Miss Pitts replied that Andrew 
and Len Jones both liked woods better than houses. 
She expected every moment to see a tired little boy 
come tramping across the fields, hungry for his supper. 
But when the shadows of evening began to fall and 
Andrew did not appear Miss Pitts told Arthur J oyce 
to run over to Mrs. Burton’s and tell Phinny. 

Arthur did not hurry on the errand. He knew what 
Andrew’s plans were, and Arthur was afraid Phineas 
might question him. He gave Phinny Miss Pitts’ 

159 


i6o ‘The Tittle Runaways 

message : “ Miss Pitts says to tell you that Andrew 
went off this morning and hasn’t come home.” 

“ Where did he go ? ” Phinny asked. 

“Miss Pitts says she s’poses he’s gone off in the 
woods,” replied Andrew, digging his bare toes into the 
soft earth at the edge of the pathway where he had 
met Phinny. 

“ And it’s nearly dark ! I don’t believe he’d go far 
enough to get lost, but he may have had a tumble and 
hurt himself,” said Phinny anxiously. “ Kun over and 
tell Len Jones, will you, Arthur ? And I’ll go to Or- 
chard House.” 

Arthur went off with this second message even more 
doubtfully. He wished that Andrew had never heard 
of bows and arrows, or of Indian boys living in the 
woods. “ Len Jones will find him. Len can find any- 
thing in the woods,” Arthur thought ; “ and if they 
find out that I knew all the time and didn’t tell where 
Andrew was, they’ll all blame me. And I can’t tell. 
I promised not to,” and Arthur began to feel troubled 
and unhappy. 

Len listened to what Arthur told him and repeated 
the message to Mrs. Jones. 

“ You start right off, Lennie. It’s getting darker 
every minute,” she said anxiously. “You’ll need a 


At Orchard House 


i6i 


lantern. Oh, dear ! ” and Mrs. Jones’s voice sounded as 
if she was very anxious ; “ that poor little quiet boy. 
Len 1 ” and Mrs. Jones put her hand on the arm of her 
tall son. “ I’ve made my mind up ! I’m going to have 
Andrew come here and live ! Yes, I am. I ought to 
have decided before. You tell him the minute you 
find him.” 

“ All right, mother,” Len promised. Arthur did not 
hear this conversation, for as soon as he had given 
Phinny’s message to Len Arthur had started back for 
Orchard House. Len was close behind him. It was 
now nearly nine o’clock. There was no moon, but the 
summer skies were bright with stars. 

“ Thought I’d bring my ‘ palouser ’ along,” explained 
Len, when he saw the boys at Orchard House looking 
curiously at what appeared to be an old lard pail he was 
carrying. 

“ What’s a ‘ palouser ’ ? ” Matt questioned. 

“ I’ll show you how to make one some time. First- 
rate lantern for the woods,” Len explained hurriedly, 
for Phinny was ready to start. 

“Arthur’s been off with Andrew on some of his 
tramps ; perhaps he would know which way Andrew 
generally goes,” suggested Phinny, but Arthur had 
suddenly disappeared. He had feared this very 


i 62 The Tittle Runaways 

question, and was now lurking behind a tree in the 
orchard. 

Len was busy fitting a candle into the old lard pail. 
Matt noticed that the iron bail had been changed so 
that it was now hooked over one side of the pail. Be- 
low the bail, some two inches, an X-shaped opening had 
been cut, near the center, and the points turned in- 
ward. 

These points, inward-bent, made an excellent holder 
for the candle. There was a small opening directly 
under the handle for a ventilator. 

“ I could make one of those without much showing,” 
Matt declared, as Len lighted the candle. The inside 
of the tin pail acted as a reflector, and the “ palouser ” 
sent broad rays of light in whichever direction it was 
pointed. 

“You can make a pretty good one with an old tin 
can, or a roll of birch bark, if you have a candle,” said 
Len. “ We’ll find Andrew ; don’t worry,” and he and 
Phinny started off toward the woods. Mr. Jones, with 
another “ palouser ” and a good supply of candles, had 
also gone in search- of Andrew, telling Miss Pitts that 
if none of the searchers were back at Orchard House 
by midnight she would better send word over to Mr. 
Goddard. 


At Orchard House 


163 

It was not quite twelve when Mr. Jones returned. 
He had not found Andrew. Two hours later Phinny 
and Len, tired and anxious, came back to Orchard 
House, but with no news of the missing boy. They 
had gone to all the places that seemed likely. 

“ You and Phinny must go to bed,” said Mr. Jones. 
“We are all too tired to do anything more to-night. 
Andrew is no doubt comfortably asleep in the woods, 
and will appear with a good appetite for his break- 
fast.” 

There seemed that nothing could be done but wait 
for morning, but there was very little sleep at Orchard 
House that night. 

“ I keep thinking about that bear Phineas killed the 
first summer he was here,” Miss Pitts had said just as 
Arthur Joyce went up-stairs. Arthur heard her, and 
now he lay frightened and sleepless, quite sure that 
Andrew was in danger of being devoured by some 
wandering bear. 

But now the more Arthur thought about it the 
more certain he became that if any harm happened to 
Andrew it would be his fault if he did not tell where 
Andrew was. “ I guess Andrew would rather live all 
his life in an asylum rather than have a bear eat him,” 
Arthur thought. Then he remembered his solemn 


164 "The Little Runaways 

promise to Andrew never to tell of the plan to live in 
the woods, and Arthur became more and more un- 
happy. 

Mrs. Jones was over at Orchard House at an early 
hour the next morning, hoping that Andrew was back 
safe and well. 

“ I mean to have Andrew stay with us,” she told Miss 
Pitts, “ and I do wish I had made up my mind before 
this ; then, like as not, Andrew would have felt more 
settled in his mind, and would not have gone wander- 
ing off in the woods. If anything should happen to 
him I’d never forgive myself for letting him go.” 

“ How did you happen to think about Andrew ? ” 
questioned Miss Pitts. 

“ Cathie !” replied Mrs. Jones briefly; “she’s tried 
every way to show me that it was real lucky that a 
boy like Andrew could be adopted ; and if I hadn’t 
been so selfish I would have decided before this. 
I ” 

But here Mrs. Jones was interrupted by having 
her arm suddenly grasped and by Arthur Joyce ex- 
claiming : 

“ I heard you ! I heard you ! You mean you want 
to adopt Andrew ? ” 

“My soul, Arthur!” exclaimed Miss Pitts in sur- 


At Orchard House 165 

prise. “ You’ve frightened Mrs. Jones half out of her 
wits. What do you mean ? ” 

But Arthur did not release his grasp on Mrs. Jones’s 
arm. He was looking up eagerly into that good lady’s 
face. 

“ Do you want Andrew to live with you ? ” he re- 
peated. 

“ I do,” answered Mrs. Jones. 

“ I know where he is. I’ll tell now. Andrew likes 
you,” and Arthur nodded at Mrs. Jones approvingly, 
“ but he said if nobody wanted him he’d go off and 
live in the woods and take care of himself, shoot 
things with bows and arrows, and catch fish like In- 
dians do.” 

“Arthur,” and Miss Pitts’ voice was very stern, 
“ do you mean to say you have known where Andrew 
was all this time ? ” 

“ Yes’m. But I couldn’t tell, because I promised not 
to tell. And I wouldn’t now if Mrs. Jones hadn’t 
promised to adopt him. You do promise, don’t you ? 
Because I won’t tell now if you don’t,” declared Arthur, 
turning again toward Mrs. Jones. 

“ You hear what I said, Arthur,” replied Mrs. Jones, 
“ and I’ve half a mind to take you, too,” she added. 
“ How you tell us just where Andrew is, and then you 


i66 T’he Liittle Runaways 

go with Leander and Phinny and show them the 
place.” 

Andrew had had a most uncomfortable night. It 
seemed to him that the ground where he lay was noth- 
ing but hard roots and bumps of earth. 

And very much to his disappointment the gray 
blanket had not kept him warm. Andrew woke up 
hungry, cold and unhappy. For the first time he be- 
gan to wonder if Miss Pitts would not worry about 
him, and to remember the kind matron back at the 
asylum. 

In the night he had heard the lonely cry of herons, 
far up the lake, and strange rustlings of wild things 
moving about in the woods ; and he had recalled the 
story of the bear that Phineas Burton had shot in the 
blueberry pasture. 

So as Andrew sat up, with the old gray blanket 
drawn closely about him, and wondered what he could 
find in the woods to satisfy his hunger, he was very 
much troubled. 

Just then he heard a sudden rushing sound through 
the woods as if a big animal had scented its prey 
and was springing toward it. ‘‘ It’s a bear ! It’s a 
bear!” the little boy screamed aloud, just as Mike, 
Phinny Burton’s big collie, came leaping out of the 


At Orchard House 167 

woods and sprang toward the little figure huddled up 
in the gray blanket. 

“ Oh, Mike ! I’m glad it’s you,” Andrew whimpered, 
throwing his arms around the silky neck of the big 
collie. 

For a few moments Mike stood quite still, his tail wag- 
ging, his mouth open, as if smiling down on this foolish 
little boy ; then he jumped away, barked loudly and 
dashed back into the woods, and a moment later Len 
and Phinny appeared. 

When Arthur Joyce had described the place where 
Andrew meant to build a brush house Len had said 
that he knew the very spot, and Arthur was glad to 
stay at Orchard House instead of going with the 
older boys to bring Andrew home. 

“ Glad to see us, I’ll wager,” declared Len, as he held 
out his hand toward Andrew. “ Phinny, just start up 
a fire down by the pond, and we’ll roast these potatoes 
I brought along,” and Len threw down a bag. “ Here’s 
a towel and some soap, Andrew,” he added, handing 
them to the boy. “ Run down to the lake and take a 
dip while we get breakfast ready.” 

Andrew obeyed. 

He said to himself that the appearance of Len and 
Phinny meant that he would return to the asylum ; 


i68 The Tittle Runaways 

and Andrew was not sorry. He remembered that 
there were pleasant things at the asylum after all : 
good beds to sleep on, plenty to eat, and other boys to 
play with. 

By the time he had finished his dip in the clear 
waters of the lake, rubbed himself vigorously, and 
dressed, Len was calling him to breakfast. “ I’m awful 
hungry,” Andrew said, when Phinny handed him a tin 
dipper filled with hot coffee, and a big slice of well- 
buttered bread. 

“ The potatoes will be ready in a minute,” Phinny 
responded. Neither of the older boys had scolded 
Andrew, or asked him any questions, which he thought 
was very kind of them. 

Phineas had run away from the asylum when he was 
about Andrew’s age, and he knew just what had been 
in the little boy’s heart. It was boys like Andrew that 
Phineas was planning to help. 

‘‘ Some day you and I’ll come up here and camp out, 
Andrew,” Len said, as he drew a roasted potato from 
the hot ashes with the aid of a sharp-pointed stick 
he had cut. 

“ It’s great fun to come up here in winter and fish 
through the ice for frost-fish.” 

Andrew did not answer, and Len went on : ‘‘You 


At Orchard House 


169 

see, Andrew, my mother wants you to come and live 
with us ; so you and I can have a lot of good times, 
you know.” 

Andrew dropped his tin dipper with a sudden clatter, 
but apparently neither Len nor Phinny noticed the 
boy’s surprise. 

“ You’ll have to do chores,” Len warned him. But 
still Andrew did not speak. “ And go to school, too,” 
Len continued in a firm voice. 

Andrew heard him, but Andrew’s thoughts had 
traveled off to that pleasant sitting-room with its 
painted floor and braided rugs. He could see the big 
round table, and the lamp and the haircloth sofa. 
And he could see Mrs. Jones’s kind face smiling at him. 

“ When do I go to live at your house ? ” Andrew 
asked soberly. 

“ To-day. The very minute we get back,” Len an- 
swered. 

“Let’s start now,” said Andrew, jumping up from 
the ground. 

On the way back Andrew told Phinny that he had 
left a dollar, wrapped up in a piece of paper, under the 
pillow of his bed at Orchard House to pay for the 
blanket, the dipper, knife and hatchet which he was 
now carrying back. 


170 The Tittle Runaways 

“Well,” said Phinny, “you are returning all the 
things you borrowed, Andrew, so I guess you can 
get that dollar and keep it. You earned it, you 
know.” 


CHAPTEE XYII 


ORCHARD HOUSE FLIER 

“ W ELL, Andrew, I guess you and Len will get on 
famously ; you both like the woods,” said Mr. Jones, 
when Andrew followed Len into the Jones sitting-room. 

Arthur Joyce and Miss Pifts had brought Andrew’s 
few possessions over to the Jones house that morning, 
and Andrew now had a room of his own. It was a 
pleasant square room very much like Len’s, and when 
Mrs. Jones told Andrew that it was to be his very own, 
he had hardly known what to say. 

Xo one had blamed or scolded Andrew for his wood- 
land experiment, but when Mrs. Jones said : “ Your 
going off the way you did, Andrew, made me feel real 
ashamed,” the little boy began to realize that he had 
made his best friends anxious and unhappy, and he 
firmly resolved to himself that he would never make 
Mrs. Jones anxious again. 

“ You can take my job of keeping the kitchen wood- 
box filled, Andy,” Len promptly announced. “I’ll be 
going to college this fall, so you have come just at the 
right time.” 


172 The Tittle Runaways 

“ Andrew’s going to be a sight of company for me, I 
can see that,” Mrs. Jones declared, and Andrew looked 
at his good friend gratefully, quite sure that he was the 
most fortunate boy in the world. 

“ Isn’t it splendid, Phinny, that Andrew Hill is to live 
with Mrs. Jones ! ” said Cathie, as she and Mother 
Burton listened to Phinny ’s story of Mrs. Jones’s 
decision ; “ but I do wish Honny had a truly home,” 

“ So do I,” responded Phinny, “ but the little fel- 
low says that unless he can be adopted he’d rather 
go back to the asylum.” 

‘‘And there’s Mr. Goddard with that great big 

house ! I do think ” but Cathie did not finish, for 

Mrs. Burton put up a warning finger ; and just then 
there came a smart rap at the door. 

“ It’s Fred Dwight ! ” exclaimed Phineas jumping up 
from the table. “ He’s going to try his flying-machine 
to-day,” and Phinny ran out to join Fred, who was on 
his way to Orchard House. 

The boys were all out in front of the barn waiting 
for Fred, and followed him up the ladder into the barn 
loft where Fred’s air-ship was awaiting its first trial. 
The previous spring the boys of the village school had 
formed an air-ship club, and a number of very good 
models had been the result. Fred Dwight had been 


At Orchard House 


173 


more interested in the subject than any of the other 
boys, and had procured books describing the different 
types of “fliers,” with directions how to make them. 
Phinny had loaned him the barn loft for a workshop, 
and now the wonderful machine was finished ; and the 
-day had come when it was to be lowered from the 
loft, and carried to the rough stand the boys had 
erected on the pasture hill. From this stand Fred was 
to make his first flight. ISTo one but the boys of 
Orchard House, Len and Phinny were to see the 
attempt ; but if it proved successful Fred had resolved 
to surprise the village by flying over it, and landing, if 
possible, near his father’s house. 

Fred had modeled his machine after the Santos 
Dumont monoplane. It was about twenty feet long, 
and its total width over the planes was eighteen feet ; 
its height seven feet. 

Fred had used bent pieces of ash, like a sleigh 
runner, to hold the framework, and the two spars that 
were the main support of the planes were also of ash. 
He had sent away for the oiled silk which covered the 
spars. 

The area of his main plane was over one hundred 
square feet, and that of the tail-piece about fifty 
square feet. The seat, unlike most flying-machines, was 


174 T'he Little Runaways 

below the motor. It had taken all Fred’s earnings to 
purchase the silk and the small second-hand aeroplane 
motor which he had secured through an advertisement 
in the county paper, but he had completed a very 
skilful and finished piece of work. It was lowered 
from the open side of the loft of the old barn. And 
the boys were very careful in carrying the different 
parts to the pasture hill, where Fred, with Phinny’s 
assistance, put it together, and the “ Orchard House 
Flier,” as he had named it, was ready for its trial. 

Fred had his air-ship poised, his motor started, and 
was in his seat. The little group of boys stood silent 
and expectant. If Fred should really fly they felt it 
would be the most wonderful thing in the world. The 
little craft raised itself from the platform, hung waver- 
ing for a few seconds, then rushed upward. Then 
something happened. There was a sound like the ex- 
plosion of a small bomb, and down came the winged 
flier not fifty feet from the platform. Len and Phinny 
rushed toward it, half afraid that they might find 
Fred badly hurt. He had been flung from the seat, 
and fell some distance beyond his machine, which lay 
grumbling and swaying in a broken heap. 

“ It was that old motor,” declared Fred, as he 
scrambled to his feet. His shirt-sleeve hung, torn in 


At Orchard House 


75 


strips, from one shoulder, and his hands and face were 
bruised; but Fred did not seem to notice this. He 
looked ruefully at his broken machine. 

“Might have known what a second-hand motor 
would do; but just wait until I earn money enough 
for a new motor, and all you fellows will see me fly,” 
he said. 

“ I believe we shall, Fred,” responded Phinny, “ and 
I don’t think this machine is hurt much.” While 
Phineas, Len and Fred looked over the broken flying- 
machine, the younger boys wandered down the pasture 
toward the brook. In a few days it would be the first 
of September, and as the time set for the boys’ return 
to the asylum drew near they had all begun to feel 
rather sober. 

Nonny Sykes kept very close to Matt as they walked 
down the slope. 

“ You’ll be making flying-machines, won’t you. 
Matt ? ” Honny questioned. “ Miss Pitts has a fine 
shed to work in.” 

“ I ain’t so sure that I’m going to stay with Miss 
Pitts,” announced Matthew. 

iS^onny stopped short, and looked at his companion 
in amazement. 

“ Why not ? ” he asked. 


176 T^he L-ittle Runaways 

“ Guess I don’t want to stay in the country,” said 
Matt. “ You see, INTonny, I think if I go back to the 
city maybe I can get a chance to live in a bigger place 
than this.” 

“ Don’t you like Miss Pitts ? ” questioned i^onny. 

Matthew did not answer. He was thinking to him- 
self that he liked Miss Pitts better than anybody in all 
the world ; then he looked down at JSTonny’s thin little 
face and twisted foot, and his unselfish resolve grew 
stronger : the resolve to give Honny his chance for a 
home. 

“You see, Honny, I’m ’most grown up. I’m past 
twelve,” went on Matt, “ and I guess Miss Pitts would 
like a younger boy better; some little fellow who 
would like to sit in the house and be good company for 
her.” 

“ Do you s’pose she would ? ” asked Honny. 

“Sure!” declared Matt. “You see, she never gave 
me a thought until I broke my arm. I guess she 
thought I’d be quiet and stay in; but you see I’m 
almost all right again. She used to like Andrew be- 
cause he was quiet.” 

“ She can’t have Andrew now ; he’s going to live at 
the Jones’s,” Honny reminded him. 

“ So he is ! ” responded Matt, as if he had forgotten 


At Orchard House 


>77 


all about that. “Well, Nonny, I believe Miss Pitts 
likes you real well ; and I shouldn’t be a bit surprised 
if, when she finds out that I’m going back to the 
asylum, she asks you to stay and be her boy.” 

E’onny’s thin little hand clutched at the sleeve of 
Matt’s blouse. “ Honest, Matt ? ” he asked. “ I’d like 
to stay. She’s pretty nearly the nicest lady I ever 
met. It would be fine.” 

“ Of course it would,” Matt declared bravely. “ You’d 
be a sight more company to her. You see, I’m so big 

now, and strong, and ” Matt’s voice seemed to 

die away. But Honny did not notice. It was queer 
of Matt to want to go back to the city, he thought ; 
but Matt was queer. Honny remembered that. Matt 
used to be mean and hateful, and now Nonny liked 
Matt the best of any of the boys. 

“ Don’t tell about me ; we’ll s’prise the boys,” said 
Matt. “I’ll tell Miss Pitts about my wanting to go 
back, and I’ll tell her you’ll take my place and stay 
with her.” 

“Will you, truly. Matt ? ” 

“ Sure I will. I’ll tell her to-night,” declared Matt. 
“ You go ahead down to the brook with the other fel- 
lows. I’m going this way,” and Matt turned suddenly 
and walked toward the road. 


178 "The Little Runaways 


Nonny hurried to join Arthur Joyce and the twins, 
who were all seated on a big flat rock near the brook. 
They sat there silent and quiet. 

“ What’s the matter ? ” demanded ISTonny, who felt 
that it was a time to rejoice, and not sit looking at a 
brook. 

“You look just like three frogs ready to jump into 
the water,” Nonny continued laughingly. 

“ Humph ! ” grumbled Arthur. “ Guess you’ll look 
hke a frog yourself about this time next week, when 
we’re back at the ’sylum.” 

“ I’m not going back ! ” declared Honny. 

The twins jumped up eagerly, and Arthur asked: 
“ Where are you going ? ” 

“ I can’t tell yet,” Honny replied. 

“ Is it the Harpers’ ? ” 

“ Is it the Parkers’ ? ” 

These questions came in a chorus, as the three boys 
gathered around Honny. Honny shook his head smil- 
ingly. “ It’s a secret,” he replied ; “ it isn’t the Parkers’, 
and it isn’t the Harpers’, and it isn’t Mr. Goddard.” 
Honny spoke the last name a little regretfully, for he 
had liked the clergyman very much indeed; and he 
liked Miss Goddard, and the square white house with 
its quiet rooms. 


At Orchard House 


179 

“ Then I don’t see who is going to take you,” said 
Arthur. 

“ It’s a secret,” repeated Nonny. “ I can’t tell any- 
body about it just yet.” 

“ You’ll be the next one, Arthur,” said Chester. “ I 
s’pose nobody’ll take us ’cause we’re twins,” and Chester 
and Charles looked at each other questioningly. It did 
not occur to the Watson boys that they could ever be 
separated. 

While the boys talked by the brook Matt walked 
rapidly along the road. He began to wonder why 
he had told Honny that he wanted to go back 
to the city. “I guess I owed it to I^Tonny to give 
him my chance. I used to be awful mean to him,” 
Matt thought, recalling the sly taunts and occa- 
sional hateful slaps he had bestowed on the little 
cripple. 

Matt was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he 
had not heard the sound of wheels behind him, and 
when Mr. Goddard called out: “Hullo, Matthew! 
Don’t you want a ride ? ” the boy gave a sudden 
jump. 

“ I don’t mind,” he answered. 

“ Well, climb in,” and Mr. Goddard reached down 
to help the boy up. 


i8o The L,itth Runaways 

“ So you are going to live with Miss Pitts, Matthew,” 
said Mr. Goddard, as they rode along. 

“ No, sir ! ” responded Matthew. “ I’m going back 
to the ’sylum. I guess Miss Pitts is going to take 
Nonny.” 


CHAPTEE XYIII 


UNEXPECTED HAPPENINGS 

“So you really like the city better thau Skillings 
Village?” said Mr. Goddard when Matthew had 
briefly told of his intention to return to the orphan 
asylum. 

Matthew looked away across the pleasant flelds, and 
Mr. Goddard could not see his face, or quite under- 
stand the boy’s reply. 

“And is Xonny happy at the thought of staying 
with Miss Pitts ? I’m rather disappointed, Matthew,” 
continued the clergyman, without waiting for an an- 
swer to his question. “For my sister and I became 
greatly attached to Xonny, and we were going over 
to Orchard House this very afternoon to talk with 
Phineas and Miss Pitts in regard to my adopting 
Honny.” 

Matt turned a radiant face toward the clergyman. 

“That’s fine. I’m mighty glad. He’d rather be 
your boy than anybody’s. I can stay with Miss Pitts 
now. I used to be so mean to Nonny that ” Matt 

i8i 


i 82 The Liittle Runaways 

stopped suddenly. He had not intended to say so 
much about himself. 

“ I understand, and I’m glad enough, Matthew, that 
you wanted to be so generous. I think Miss Pitts is 
going to be proud of you,” and Mr. Goddard smiled 
down at the brown-faced boy beside him. “ But I’m 
afraid that you forgot that it was you, Matthew, whom 
Miss Pitts wanted,” continued Mr. Goddard. “ I don’t 
believe any one could have persuaded her to give 
you up.” 

“ Honest ? ” Matthew asked, as if this statement was 
really too good to be easily believed. 

“ Honest ! ” Mr. Goddard replied. “ She thinks a 
great deal of you.” 

Matthew sat very still, looking straight ahead. He 
wished he was out alone on the pasture hill where he 
could jump about, and, well, perhaps cry a little, if he 
wanted to. 

“ You’ll be all ready for school in a few weeks,” 
Matt heard Mr. Goddard say, “ but I think I shall 
teach Honny at home this winter, and let him begin 
school with the spring term.” 

When Mr. Goddard and Matt returned from their 
drive Honny was at the gate. 

“ Want to go home with me, Nonny ? ” asked Mr. 


At Orchard House 


183 

Goddard. “ And you might as well pack up your 
things while I speak to Miss Pitts,” and Mr. Goddard 
went up the path, leaving ]S[onny looking at Matthew 
as if to ask what this meant. 

‘‘ Go ahead, IS’onny. He’s going to adopt you,” said 
Matt, “ and don’t say a word to Miss Pitts about what 
I told you. It’s all right. I’m going to stay.” 

“You look as if you were glad ! ” Nonny exclaimed 
in a surprised tone. 

“Of course I’m glad! It’s fine. Chase into the 
house and pick up your things, and tell the boys good- 
bye. You’re going for good,” declared Matt, and off 
Honny ran ; but it seemed to ISTonny that everything 
was happening at once, and he began to wonder why 
Matt had changed his mind so suddenly. 

“ I guess Miss Pitts likes him best, anyway,” decided 
the little boy, as he picked up his few belongings, not 
forgetting his treasured bow and arrows. 

“ You said it wasn’t Mr. Goddard ! ” chorused the 
Watson twins accusingly, when Honny came down- 
stairs with his bundle of clothing. 

“ I didn’t know it was going to be,” Honny hastened 
to explain, “ but I’m real glad it is.” 

There was no time for any further explanations, for 
Mr. Goddard was waiting. 


184 T^he L,ittle Runaways 


As they drove away Nonny turned to wave his cap 
to the little group at the gate, and gave a happy little 
laugh. “ Ain’t I lucky ? ” he demanded, looking up at 
Mr. Goddard. 

“ It beats all how things settle themselves,” declared 
Miss Pitts to Phineas, when she told him of Nonny’s 
departure. 

Phinny thought the Orchard House boys were prov- 
ing very fortunate. 

‘‘ Isn’t it splendid that three of them have found just 
the right homes ! ” he said that night to Mother Burton 
and Cathie, as he told them the good news about 
Nonny Sykes. 

Cathie looked at him a little reproachfully. “No- 
body seems to want the twins, or Arthur Joyce,” 
she said. “I’ve said everything I can say to Miss 
Parker; but I believe she would rather adopt a 
girl,” and there was a little note of scorn in Cathie’s 
voice. 

“Well, Cathie, maybe when you have six girls here 
next summer you’ll be real glad that Miss Parker 
wasn’t anxious to adopt twin boys,” said Mother Bur- 
ton. 

“ Perhaps,” agreed Cathie, smilingly, “ but I hope 
two of my asylum girls will be twins, because you know 


At Orchard House 185 

Miss Parker said that she and her brother wouldn’t 
think of adopting one child. What are you smiling at, 
Phin Burton ? ” she concluded suddenly. 

“ I was thinking of how anxious you were to have 
somebody adopt me four years ago, when I ran away 
from the asylum,” replied Phineas. 

“Well, and all of those people are very sorry now 
that they didn’t adopt you,” declared Cathie, “ and the 
Parkers will be just as sorry if they let Chester and 
Charles go back.” 

“ I don’t know as I should go as far as that, Cathie. 
You can’t expect every asylum boy to be a Phineas 
Burton,” said Mrs. Burton looking proudly at her 
adopted son. 

It seemed very quiet at Orchard House that night. 
Matt was the only one of the boys who had much to 
say. Arthur Joyce hardly spoke while they were at 
the supper table, and Chester and Charles Watson even 
refused a second helping of caramel custard. 

“ I declare, Matthew, I shall be real glad when the 
time comes for you and me to go to our own house,” 
Miss Pitts said as she bade Matt good-night. 

The next morning Chester announced that he was 
going for a walk. “ Don’t wait dinner for me. Miss 
Pitts,” he said cheerfully. “ I may be late. But don’t 


i86 


T'he L,ittle Runaways 

worry. I shan’t go off to try and live in the woods the 
way Andrew did.” 

“ I should hope not,” said Miss Pitts, and watched 
Chester marching sturdily along the road. 

Charles and Arthur went off with Andrew and Len 
on a fishing excursion, while Matt was busy in Phinny’s 
workshop preparing basket material. Chester had not 
even told his twin brother where he was going. He had 
decided on what seemed to him a very daring adven- 
ture : he would walk to the Parker farm and ask them 
if he and Charles could not come there to live. 

“ Miss Parker’s real good,” the little boy thought as 
he walked along, “ and I’ll say they needn’t really and 
truly adopt us, if they’ll just let us stay and work our 
board,” 

It was a long walk, and Chester was very warm and 
tired when he came in sight of the low buildings of the 
old Parker farm. 

“ I think it’s the nicest place I ever saw,” thought 
the little boy, looking admiringly at the vine-covered 
porch, and the long red barn. “ It would be fine to 
live there.” 

Miss Parker was sitting on the porch, and called out 
a welcome as Chester came up the path. 

“ You’re a real good boy to take such a long walk to 


At Orchard House 


187 

see us,” she said cordially, “ and Washington will be 
just as pleased as I am. You sit right down here be- 
side me and rest.” 

Chester sat down, but someway, now that he was 
close beside Miss Parker, and listening to her pleasant 
voice, it was not easy to tell her his errand. He re- 
solved to wait until Mr. Washington Parker came into 
dinner, for Miss Parker said that dinner would soon be 
ready. “You keep a lookout for Washington while I 
step into the kitchen a minute,” she said to Chester at 
last. 

“ I’ll ask him the minute I see him,” resolved Chester. 
And as he saw Mr. Parker coming across the yard 
toward the house Chester ran to meet him. 

“Well! well! Young man, glad to see you,” said 
Mr. Parker, and Chester’s little rough hand was warmly 
clasped, and Mr. Parker kept it in his own as they 
walked back to the porch. But Chester did not tell his 
errand. Someway he felt sure that it would not be of 
any use, so the little boy grew very silent ; he did not 
seem to enjoy his dinner, and Miss Parker and her 
brother exchanged anxious looks over the little boy’s 
brown head. 

“ I’ll drive you home ; it’s most too warm for you to 
walk so far,” Mr. Parker said when Chester had managed 


i88 T^he hit tie Runaways 

to say that he must go back to Orchard House. And 
suddenly Chester’s courage returned. 

“ I don’t want to go back to the asylum, and Charlie 
don’t want to go back. Can’t we come and live here ? 
You’ve got lots of room. We’ll work our board ; we’ll 

be just as good as we can. We’ll ” Chester 

stopped suddenly. He wished he had kept quiet, for 
Miss Parker was not even looking at him. She was 
looking at Mr. Parker and saying : 

“You harness just as quick as ever you can, Wash- 
ington,” and without a word Mr. Parker hurried out of 
the dining-room. 

Chester wondered what they would say to him ; he 
felt almost frightened. Miss Parker had turned away 
from' him and was looking out of the window. He 
heard the sound of wheels and saw Mr. Parker drive 
out of the yard. 

He stood silent and unhappy. It seemed to Chester 
that these kind people whom he liked so much were 
now angry with him. He wished he had gone fishing 
with the other boys. Then Miss Parker turned toward 
him ; she was wiping her eyes, but he was glad to see 
that she was smiling. 

“ Washington wiU fetch your things over, and bring 
Charles back,” she said. “ I guess you don’t realize, 


Orchard House 


189 

Chester, how pleased we are that you let us see just 
how you felt. We weren’t going to say a word about 
adopting you boys until you showed some sign of want- 
ing to live here. And Washington began to be almost 
afraid that the sign wouldn’t come.” 

It was some little time before Chester really under- 
stood that Mr. Washington Parker was on his way to 
Orchard House to bring Charles back with him, and 
that the twins were to live with the Parkers. 

“ I guess Washington will explain it to Miss Pitts 
and Phineas Burton,” continued Miss Parker. “We al- 
ways said that one boy would be lonesome to live with 
old folks like us, but it will be complete to have two 
boys.” 

“ You’re not old,” declared Chester promptly, “ and 
we’d rather live here than any place.” 

“We shall take comfort with you, I can see that,” 
said Miss Parker. “Cathie Burton told me that she 
guessed the Watson twins came to Orchard House on 
purpose for Washington and me to adopt, and I guess 
you did.” 

After the twins left Orchard House it was decided 
that Miss Pitts and Matthew should go to Miss Pitts’ 
home in the village, and that Arthur J oyce should stay 
at Mrs. Burton’s for the few remaining days before the 


igo The Little Runaways 

time set for his return to the asylum. Phinny and 
Cathie did all they could to make these days pleasant 
for the little boy, but Arthur felt very solitary. He 
wondered why all the other boys should have found 
homes and he be the only one to go back to the orphan 
asylum. 

The morning for Arthur’s departure came, and Len 
drove Phineas and his young charge to the station. 
Phineas was to take Arthur to Boston. Cathie hung 
over the gate and watched them drive away. 

“ It spoils everything to have Arthur go back,” she 
said to Mother Burton, “ and I was so sure that the 
Harpers would take him. They nearly promised.” 

It was an hour later when Len and Phinny came 
driving into the yard. 

“ What’s the trouble ? ” called Mrs. Burton, following 
Cathie, who had run out to meet them. “ Did you send 
Arthur off alone ? ” 

Phinny threw his cap into the air, and tried to dance 
a jig, while his mother and sister gazed at him in amaze- 
ment. 

“ He’s crazy,” declared Len laughingly. “ You see 
Harry Harper caught us at the station, just before the 
train came, and took Arthur off to Harper farm. 
Harry said his father didn’t want to adopt Arthur, but 


At Orchard House 191 

they’d agree to keep him until he was eighteen. 
Great, isn’t it ! ” and Len looked from Mrs. Burton to 
Cathie. 

“ It’s perfectly splendid,” declared Cathie happily. 


Other Stories in the Series are ; 

THE LITTLE RUNAWAYS 

THE LITTLE RUNAWAYS AT HOME 

THE LITTLE RUNAWAYS AND MOTHER 



























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